One More Time
by Rhearenee
Summary: A collection of one-shots with varied ppg/rrb pairings. Ratings vary. Ch. 8 She was way over her head fighting Butch, but once she beat him she didn't expect what came next.
1. Cherry Pie (Blues)

_A huge thanks to_ Sjaylol _for following this story and_ Guest _for reviewing. Per your request next one-shot will be about Bubbles and Brick._

 _But for now enjoy some Bubbles and Boomer goodness. I really stepped out of my comfort zone to write this one. (Not to mention that I have been writing it for two years already ^^;) Anyway, enjoy!_

* * *

 **5\. The cherry on top**

Clank!

Boomer sighed and cleaned another empty glass and put it back in its place. He threw the cleaning towel on his left shoulder, like a cliché bartender would do, and ran his fingers through his disheveled hair.

Just like any other day the dinner was swarming with people. It slightly annoyed him that the busiest time was during his shift. It was bad enough that he had to stay behind the bar for eight hours, serving drinks and cleaning shot glasses.

He glanced at the slightly run down booths and gagged at the sickly green color they were painted in. Still the few rays of sunlight that peaked in through the windows gave the small dinner a warm and homey look. He especially liked the few paintings on the creamy walls, and the checkered floor pattern. It all made the place look like it had traveled forward in time from the fifties.

Amid his short day-dream time a few customers had already piled up in front of the counter. Boomer sighed again and knowingly took a bottle of tequila for one of his usual customers. He quickly took orders, served their drinks and took payment, absentmindedly dreaming about his bed back home.

The day kept going like this for hours till it was already late in the evening. Boomer finally had some time to relax.

Though Miranda still had to scurry around the dinner serving drinks and snacks to some of the late customers sitting in booths.

He eyed some of them skeptically, especially the guy with the eyebrow piercing. People here often brought trouble and unconsciously Boomer had been keeping an eye on some of them. Last time a guy with tattoos brought a gun in this place and aimed it at him and a random customer. He didn't really want to experience that situation again.

Boomer was about to sit down and take his break when the little bell chimed, signaling that someone has just entered or exited the small dinner place.

The blue ruff groaned. If it's another drunk asking for a free bottle of vodka he's going to lose it.

What the ruff didn't expect to see, when he looked up, was a blonde girl with two low pigtails and a seemingly helpless expression on her face. Boomer felt his blood go cold.

 _What is she doing here?_

All those years in hiding gone to waste. He made sure not to use his powers anymore in public. He even changed his name and his hair color. True, the dye has already washed out and his natural dirty blonde hair is visible, but it's not like any other person on earth hasn't got the same hair color.

The ruff nearly started panicking. He tried to keep his cool and hide, seeing as the other blonde hadn't noticed him yet. Boomer almost ducked under the bar when the Powerpuff detected him. With a huge beam she ran over to him.

 _This is the death of me._

 _But why is she smiling if she's coming to take me in?_

"Uh…hey…?" Bubbles called him as soon as she sat down on a stool. Her eyes briefly ran down from his face to his name-tag. "Zack." Abruptly she put a picture on the bar. Boomer flinched. "I was wonderin' if you have seen this girl anywhere around these parts."

"Huh?" Came his, oh so smart, reply.

The puff didn't recognize him. Oh, joy! He managed to avoid prison and Brick's wrath for blowing his disguise just now. All he has to do now is to keep this up and leave the puff in the dark.

Bubbles more urgently pushed the picture forward and pointed at it with her index finger. "This girl. She's been missing for four weeks now. The Mayor specifically assigned us to find her. She's the daughter of an important business partner of his."

Boomer hesitantly leaned forward to glance at the picture. The girl had dark hair, cut in a pixie haircut, big brown eyes and a small nose. He faintly remembered seeing her in the morning news, reported as missing.

He took a step back from the counter and gazed at the pool table in the farthest corner of the dinner. Admittedly he was afraid to speak to her. Five years may have passed since they saw each other face to face, but he could never be too careful when dealing with a Powerpuff. She might suddenly recognize him.

"Uh…first time I see her." With a mumble he tried to focus his attention more on the table and keep his posture calm, and not freak out.

The blonde appeared not to acknowledge his resistance to talk to her or even look at her. She just smiled at him. "'kay, thanks for your help." She took the small picture and jumped up from her seat.

Boomer released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Oh, hey!" The puff abruptly pivoted on her heal to face him again.

The ruff almost fainted from the rapid shock. He was back in the danger zone. Did she finally make out that it was him?

"I don't know anything!" he blurted and Bubbles gave him a puzzled look.

 _Shit! Shit!_ _I'm such an idiot._

"I-uh-I just remembered that…." He twirled the edge of his cleaning towel to try and calm his nerves.

The puff looked at him expectantly.

It only made him more nervous. He tried to avoid eye contact with the girl and ended up staring at her cleavage instead. Her v-neck shirt really did wonders to her figure and her scent was something of a vanilla strawberry mixture – it made his head reel in pleasure.

"Remembered what?" Bubbles sat back down on the stool, making Boomer practically shriek in surprise.

He couldn't believe that he just leered at her like that, out in the open. And she didn't even say anything in protest. Her demeanor amazed him. She's making him act like a pathetic teenager that's trying to talk to his crush.

"That I saw her on TV. That's all." He looked the other way trying to hide the faint pink color that had crawled up his face. She is making him feel uneasy and that is pissing him off. The contradiction with himself perplexed him. The ruff didn't even know how to act around the girl, to not arouse any suspicion. The fact that not only he has changed over the years, but Bubbles has also physically changed burned in his mind.

The blonde girl blinked at him, not understanding his reason for being edgy. "Oh, okay. Well, I wanted to ask you if we haven't met somewhere before. You seem awfully familiar to me."

It was like a bitch slap to the ruff's face. Did she really remember him?

"I don't think so." He crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. He felt more awful by the second within her presence and he couldn't decipher if it was a good kind of awful or a bad kind.

"No, I think we went together to the same high school. Were you the guy from my history class? Ehmm…" Bubbles tapped her fingers against her chin in thought.

Boomer sighed in dejection, running his fingers through his hair. Yep, he's going to prison. It's only a matter of time till she comes to the conclusion that he's a former villain in hiding. Still he has a chance to fight back – flushed or not.

"I honestly, don't remember seeing you before. Maybe we went to the same high school or maybe we didn't, but for me this is the first time meeting you. Well, in person at least. I've seen plenty of your heroics on TV." Boomer mentally gave himself a pat on the back for a well carried out sentence without stammering.

Bubbles though a bit more before replying. "Hmm, okay. I probably just mistook you for someone else." She idled with her pigtail a bit as if waiting for Boomer to say something else. He tried to elude her stare. "Well, thanks for your help. I'll be going now." She gave him a toothy grin and made her way out of the dinner.

The ruff carefully eyed her movements, taking in her jean clad legs and behind, and how much he just wanted to touch her. Once the door bell chimed again Boomer snapped out of his daze.

He wrenched around on his feet and slumped down in his chair in exasperation.

He was ogling her like a perv. Why the heck did he do that? He should be more worried about his safety not ogle over her shapely features, which, by the way, had developed attractively since the last time he saw her in person.

Boomer shook his head and growled in annoyance. His thoughts had suddenly taken a one-eighty turn. Bubbles svelte figure once again flashed in his mind and Boomer hit his head against the counter in frustration.

 _What is wrong with me?_

"Hey, Zack?" Boomer perked up his head when he heard Miranda call him in his fake name. "When you leave lock up, will ya? Paul already left and you're the last one who hasn't cleaned up your work place." The petite brunette waved good-bye to him and with a chime was out of his eyesight.

While growling something incoherent under his breath the ruff leaned under the counter to pick up a rag and start cleaning his workplace.

Where did the time go? It seemed like he would have had to wait hours till the end of his work day, but when Bubbles came in time just flew by.

 _Something is seriously wrong here._

* * *

When the next day came rolling around Boomer still had not gotten over his encounter with the Powerpuff.

Yesterday when he came back home to his shared apartment, he seriously did ponder over about telling Butch about his run in with the blue puff. He decided against seeing as Butch wasn't in his best moods that night and Boomer didn't feel like waking Brick up either, so he just kept this little thing to himself in hopes that it all was just a coincidence.

Still the dread from yesterday didn't want to leave the blonde ruff. He found himself continuously dazing off and thinking over all the 'what ifs' and other unrelated things that set him in a mournful mood.

But what flustered him the most was the fact that he was attracted to the blonde girl. For years he had managed to partially avoid his raging hormones and when he did actually succumb to them he let them all out on random girls. Like that one time one he took advantage of one of Brick's girlfriends (not that she was protesting, on the contrary - she was quite willing). The ruff doesn't like to admit it, but that was mighty vicious of him and he's done that countless times.

The ruff was self-aware, but there were times when he was uncertain about that. He was afraid of relationships, never made it past one night stand. He never knew why. Was he afraid of commitment or was it just the fear of being discovered as a villain? He had no idea.

The blonde boy ruffled his spiky hair and sat back down on his chair to take a break. Yep, he was probably only attracted to her because of his hormones and nothing else. Besides she's not the first girl he had eyed like that.

So far this day had been equally event-less as the previous one apart from the visit of a certain someone at that certain day.

While on the subject about that someone, Boomer couldn't help but think that the blonde girl had definitely changed. And he's not thinking about the physical change. There was something awfully eerie about her demeanor yesterday. He knew that the puff was a gleeful person, but expressing such emotions during a serious mission appeared highly uncharacteristic for her. Something about her visit yesterday was suspicious. He just didn't know exactly what.

The blonde boy decided to disregard these solemn thoughts and make himself a drink. It was close to closing time anyway, so a shot of rum might not hurt. His powers already gave him a high tolerance of alcohol anyway.

He was about to down the drink when the bell chimed. It had been a couple of hours till someone had come to this place; it was late in a Thursday evening after all.

The ruff received a whip of reality when the late night intruded turned out to be the blue Powerpuff.

Okay, the first time might have been a coincidence. Now the ruff was positive that the blonde girl was up to something. Taking in her clothing and how suggestive the beige blouse was, he was questioning her actual reason for being here.

What was she trying to accomplish?

He saw well enough that she wasn't here to take him in. Her overly cheerful face said it all.

With an unabashed smirk she sat down on a stool near him, giving him an almost knowing, blue-eyed look.

The ruff in response inched away from the eccentric girl. She had caught him off guard and was now scrutinizing him. Her look was making him shiver.

"H-how…may I help you?" The ruff tried to gaze at the pool table. The atmosphere had changed drastically with the girls' arrival. He could probably hang an anchor in the tension that was in the air. Well, from the look the blonde was giving the feeling was one sided.

Bubbles suddenly tipped her head up from looking at his seized hands and mirthfully tittered. "Well, I was thinking…Last night when I came here you reminded me of someone."

Boomer's breath hitched in his throat. _Crap._

"So I thought that I'll come here again and try to figure it out." She gave him a delirious look.

It almost made him think that she already knew, but was teasing him for her sole sadistic pleasure. It only proved that the innocent puff of the team had changed once reaching maturity.

The blue ruff promptly closed his eyes and counted to three. _He will not blow his cover._ _He will not fall for her charm. He will not let her dictate the course of this conversation._ He opened his eyes and exhaled.

"I thought that we already covered this yesterday that we don't know each other," Boomer persevered.

Bubbles appeared unfazed by his statement. "Yes, I do know you. I just can't exactly pinpoint it down to whom."

If it weren't for the way the girl was leaning on the counter – her hands clasped together, emphasizing her chest, Boomer would have had a freak out moment and fled to the moon. Instead he openly stared at her and drank in her soft features.

Unknowingly to Boomer Bubbles was doing the same.

After a moment with a sheepish half-smile the blue ruff darted his gaze elsewhere. He realized that he had been leering at her again. He really needs to get a reality check. When will he grasp the fact that she's an enemy and he should only feel hostility towards her, not attraction?

"Anyway, what did you want?" Boomer put his cleaning towel under the bar top, taking notice how her dainty hands were fiddling as if she didn't know where to put them. Is she nervous?

"I just…" Bubbles pondered over her questions. "…wanted to know you." Her voice was quiet and would be barely audible if it weren't for his enhanced hearing. She gave him a look he didn't understand.

The blue ruff petrified as awareness dawned upon him – the blonde girl was flirting with him. That would explain her eerie cheerfulness. She really didn't know that it was him – her counterpart, an ex-villain.

"Uhm…well." The ruff with a waver took hold of his trusty towel again, looking for a correct answer in this situation. "I'm not really an interesting person." The blonde boy cautiously waited for the puff's reply, but it never came.

Instead she was looking at him, studying his features while biting on her lower lip.

Yes, he really is going to be a dead man by morning.

Boomer gazed elsewhere. Does she even know what she's doing?

"Hmm…I think that you're pretty interesting." Her silent voice reached a lower octave.

The Rowdyruff's breath hitched again, by now it was a wonder he could breathe properly. He grabbed the side of the counter to try and steady himself – he almost toppled over once hearing her seducing voice.

"Why don't we play pool? I've noticed that you stare at that table a lot."

Does he? Really?

Boomer was about to protest and suggest that she would have to leave soon, but the blonde, out of the blue, grabbed the sleeve of his white, button-up shirt and jerked him over the counter. If Boomer wouldn't have had any powers he would have pummeled into the floor face first. He was just grateful that the blonde girl was too occupied by dragging him to the pool table to notice this little slip up.

"What are you doing?"

Bubbles snickered and gingerly threw a glance at him. "I'm going to play pool with you." She spoke like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The blue ruff still felt like Bubbles knew much more than she was letting on. Her eerie smiles just screamed 'I'm suspicious'.

Boomer tried to wriggle out of her hold without using his powers, but found it to be a useless action – the Powerpuff's strength exceeded his own normal strength. He was going to tell her that she's crazy and should just go when the puff hauled him harder and placed him in front of the pool table.

"Now let's play." She beamed and handed him a cue.

Boomer just stared at it in bewilderment. They aren't really going to play pool, are they?

When Bubbles had set up all of the balls and took her position at the end of the table he knew that they were playing. He just wondered if the puff really knew how to play.

She leaned down on the table trying to take the most comfortable position. She idled around with the cue a bit, changing its placement.

The ruff took his time admiring her pose and the way her breasts were pressed against the table.

 _Fuck!_

He whipped his head the other way, almost getting whiplash. Is she doing this consciously or is it just his perverted mind? To try and hide his slightly flushed face the blonde boy tried to keep his gaze on the flat-screen TV that was one the wall – so what if it was turned off, it still was an amazing piece of technology.

Just when he turned to face the blonde again he heard the balls collide and fly all over the place, one nearly hitting him in the face.

"Oopsie!"

Boomer looked at her in pure shock. He knew that she was strong and all, but he didn't expect her to use her full power on the poor pool table. His previous arousal forgotten, Boomer inched away from the table. Was she trying to kill him? Not that a pool ball would kill him. It was the thought that counted.

Bubbles tenderly put down the cue on the table and giggled in embarrassment. "I think I was a bit too hard on them."

That was a huge understatement.

"You should probably go now." Boomer finally gathered up his courage and said those few words that he was trying to say ever since the puff entered the dinner. It was close to closing time anyway and he didn't want for Miranda to see any mind disturbing sights.

Bubbles, disregarding him, sat on the table as close to Boomer as possible.

It only made him wish that he would have stepped back further from the table. She was giving off the same vibes as before and her perfume was intoxicating.

The puff gingerly touched his arm and ran her fingers up his bicep. The blonde boy shuddered in response, his breathing almost erratic by now, her warm touch making him drop the cue.

"What are you doing?" Boomer was surprised to hear that his own voice had come out lower than expected.

"Testing the waters."

The ruff removed her hand from his arm, taking notice how small her hand actually was compared to his.

Bubbles mistook this as an initiative to continue. She pressed herself against him and hovered inches away from his face, her hands idling around with the folds of his shirt.

That was such a wrong move. Boomer tried hard to not think about her form against his own, her face so close to him. He knew well enough that he won't hold back much longer if she keeps this up – enemy or not. She was asking for this and who he was to refuse her.

 _Her nemesis maybe_.

The blonde girl draped her hands around his waist and brought him closer if possible. Their faces were only few inches apart from each other and if the ruff tried he could easily press his lips against hers.

Did he really want to taste her that bad to risk his cover, to risk getting a dose of Antidote X and lose his powers forever once she finds out that it's him?

Fuck yes!

With hesitation yet lustful eagerness he kissed her. Her soft lips tasted like vanilla, and, God, how he liked vanilla. Though he was surprised to feel that the blonde girl didn't respond to him at all. He was making a fool out of himself. Did he really misread her signs?

Boomer was about to retreat himself from her when she brought her hands up, cupping his face and returning the closed mouth kiss as best as she could.

The ruff stiffened for a moment. Bubbles really wanted this. She wanted him? A stranger to her? He returned her kiss without any more thought to it.

The puff moaned in her pleasure and the ruff's avidity to continue despite her reluctance at first.

The blue ruff wrapped his hands around her waist and positioned himself between her legs. He felt Bubbles sweep her tongue against his bottom lip. She wanted more? He could already feel that he needed air, but her kissing was so frantic that he barely managed to break their lip lock.

Bubbles wanted to protest when the warmth of the blue ruff left her.

Boomer took a few quick gasps of air before continuing ravishing the blonde girl's lips. He let his hands wander under her blouse. Her smooth skin was hot to the touch. Oh, how he just wanted to take her and get his way with her. This time when Bubbles bit on his lip he allowed her to evade his mouth.

The blue puff took full control of their make-out session, letting her hands travel up his body to his neck.

The ruff felt tingles all over his body. She was doing such amazing things with her tongue. He changed their position by turning his head to the left, this time taking charge of the situation.

He heard the blonde sigh in satisfaction. She let her hands wander through his hair, pulling at some strands.

He never would have imagined that one day he might share a heated kiss between himself and his counterpart. He spent most of his childhood hating her, fighting her, until one day Brick announced that they will hide and discard their identities and take up new ones. He never actually found out what made his brother change his mind and take such an action. It was so unlike him that at first it had scared the blue ruff.

Five years had passed without the girls ever finding out that they had hidden right here in Townsville. Boomer had thought that five more might pass just like that, but how wrong he was.

Yet here he was in a dingy bar making out with his enemy on a pool table.

She broke their lip lock to untie his bow tie and remove his vest with feverish hands.

And he let her. He still couldn't believe that this was actually happening and that she was in control. How low could he fall?

The ruff audibly sighed when the puff had finally gotten her way through all his clothing layers and was now dragging her hands down his firm chest.

He took this as his chance to get control over this situation. He tenderly laid her down on the table, pushing away any ball that might be in the way, and kissed her exposed neck.

The blue puff mewled in response to his butterfly kisses and gripped the sleeves of his button up shirt.

He let his hands wonder over her lithe figure, halting when he reached her breasts. He cupped her soft mounds and reveled at the feeling, he could almost feel her nipples through her bra.

Boomer was about to tear open her blouse when he heard a voice call for him from the kitchen.

"Zack, could you, please, come here and help me? Lucy and Paul just left and I can't reach the top shelf myself."

Both Blues froze in their actions. The footsteps of the petite girl were coming closer. She was talking about a teapot that Paul had forgotten to put back in it's place and how it was bothering her, and how she was too short to put it back into it's rightful place - the top shelf.

The ruff eyed the blonde girl with evident fear in his eyes and surprisingly enough her expression mimicked his. He felt the bundle of panic resurface in him.

"I'm sorry." Bubbles sat up and pushed him away. She rapidly fixed her hair and blouse.

Boomer could do nothing else but stare at her in bewilderment. He was shocked beyond reason. What had just happened?

"I'm really sorry. This shouldn't have happened." The blue puff quickly gave him an apologetic look and zipped away in a blue flash before Miranda entered the room and saw her.

"Hey, Zack, are you in here?" Miranda quite loudly bursted open the door to the kitchen. She stopped in her tracks once he saw him standing there, disheveled and with a far off look. "What are you doing?"

That snapped him out of his stupor. "Ah! Uh..nothing." With trembling fingers he buttoned up his shirt. "I was just hot. Needed to cool off a bit." He tried to tie back together his bow tie, but his hands were shaking too much to do it.

Miranda eyed him suspiciously, placing her hands on her hips. She decided to disregard his odd behavior and lame excuse. "Oh. Okay. Well, I need your help if you didn't hear me."

"Sure, sure. Just gimmie a minute." He fumbled around with the bow tie a little bit more before he decided to just leave it.

"Okay, but hurry." With that the brunette left him with his thoughts.

The ruff ran a hand through his messy hair. He was so confused. Did he seriously almost have sex with the blue puff on a pool table? It might just been the best thing ever while the worst at the same time. He didn't know if he should thank his co-worker or cuss her out for the intrusion.

Boomer shook his head and decided to quickly clean up the mess they made before leaving to help Miranda. Actually he was so painfully aroused that Miranda might just have to wait some while before he goes to her. He hoped to anything holy that she didn't see his arousal. This was as embarrassing as it is.

The ruff sighed and put the cues back in their place. There was no way that the blue puff didn't know that it was him. Did she? But if she knew that it was him why would she willingly sleep with him? Boomer didn't really peg Bubbles as a girl who would have a one night stand with a stranger either.

What did really happen there?

"Argh! That fucking Powderpuff!" The ruff threw a pool ball at the opposite wall in frustration. The ball made a loud bam and fell on the floor, leaving a dent in the wall.

She just simply came in here and messed everything up. And worst of all he couldn't tell if she did recognize him or not.

* * *

 _The question is, did Bubbles know or did she not? I'll leave that up to you to figure out ;)  
_


	2. Poison (Brick Bubbles)

_Thank you very much, guys, for your support, so here's the next chapter as per request by an anonymous user a Brick and Bubbles one-shot. I really didn't know how to exactly write their relationship, but the story Intercept by **cicatricum** helped me settle on something. I know that it's been a pretty long time since I last updated, but writing doesn't come easily to me. I fret over details too much and characterization, so I hope that I did alright with this one and that it's not too boring or something.  
_

 _BTW last chapter was named after the song Cherry Pie by Warrant. This one is named after the song Poison by Alice Cooper._

 _Anyway enjoy. :D_

* * *

 **3\. Poison**

It was warm and soft - the light colored bed sheets felt like heaven. Never before have Brick woken up feeling so elevated and rested despite last night's activities.

From behind the shut blinds he could see the bright morning sun. It was still really early in the morning.

He sighed softly, putting his hand behind his head. He glanced at the blonde laying in bed beside him. Never would he have imagined that someday in _his life_ he will be laying in bed together with the blonde Powerpuff. Even now when he thinks about it it sounds asinine.

The blonde stirred in her sleep and hugged the pillow she was sleeping on closer to her. The red ruff smiled and gingerly tucked a hair strand that was threatening to fall into her mouth behind her ear.

How did it even come to this?

In pure ridiculousness that's how. Well, at least from Brick's point of view.

The day when they first encountered each other without their siblings present hadn't been the best one for the red Rowdyruff. He had been pissed and was itching to destroy something. So of course the best place to do that without bringing any unwanted attention to yourself was deep in the forest. At that moment he really didn't think of the consequences his actions in the woods may cause.

Why was he even angry in the first place?

Ah, right. It was that fateful day when their _father_ had announced that from that day forth they'll be living with their _other_ father Him. Needless to say that none of the boys were happy about such a development. The clawed demon might have given them a second chance at life, but it didn't mean that they wanted to live in his hell hole, _literally._ His living quarters were less than pleasant from what Brick could remember.

They might have not sported the best attitude towards Mojo, but it gave him no right to throw them out and in the claws of a demon.

So yes, he blew up right in their faces, exclaiming his displeasure. He also might or might not have smashed Mojo's favorite death laser, but that wasn't that important. Butch and Boomer weren't too excited for the change as well. They might have not reacted as badly as him, though they still managed to pass out a few curses and threats with the occasional destruction of Mojo's precious lab equipment.

If Brick is being honest with himself, he might have talked things through with his fathers if his mood would have been better. It's just that the whole week he had been having a streak of bad luck and Mojo's announcement was like the cherry on top that made him lose his marbles.

After the whole yelling match he just stormed right out of there, right through the roof of the laboratory.

He had had enough. He couldn't handle all that shit anymore. As much as he wanted to smash Mojo's face in at that moment, he had enough tact to know that that would achieve nothing and would only worsen the situation. Of course Him might be delighted about that, but he wanted to smash his head as well and that would only end up badly for the ruff. Instead he decided to just lash out his pent up anger in the woods, where no one can bother him.

He spent about an hour deep in the forest punching trees before he was worn out. Besides the forest had suffered enough - he had made a clearing large enough to pass up as a small parking lot. How no one had heard him is a mystery.

Brick exhaled and slumped down against a tree. It was one of the trees he hadn't touched, so it provided enough cover from the moonlight.

This was all so messed up. Why had Mojo decided to send them off to Him anyway? Had the monkey finally reached his limit? Had he finally had enough with their shenanigans? Then again it might be because they never really listened to him and more or less usually compromised his plans in destroying the puffs. Not that his plans were perfect.

The ruff ran a hand through his messy hair (he had managed to lose his favorite cap sometime during his out burst). At least the fresh spring air of the forest was soothing. The warm night wind lightly tickled his skin. From somewhere afar he heard leaves move then a twig snapping.

His eyes popped open. His breath got caught in his lungs.

On the other side of the clearing the blue Powerpuff was aimlessly walking around the remains of trees, an anxious look on her face.

So much for him being quiet then. This just wasn't his day.

"What are you doing here, blondie?"

His voice startled her. She clutched her chest at the place where her heart was. She hadn't noticed him yet, so when he called out her again she finally pinpointed his location. And when she did her expression changed drastically. Obviously she had put two and two together.

"Do you realize what have you done?" With a shrill yell, she marched, stopping in front of him, her hands on her hips.

"I'm aware."

Her eyes narrowed. "What are you up to?"

Great! Now she thinks that he's doing all this because he has an ulterior motive. Can't a guy for once have a meltdown? Maybe calling out to her was a stupid idea. Scratch that! It was stupid.

He cast his gaze away from her blazing blue eyes and instead inspected the tree laying behind her. He really did quite a number on it. It was all battered and splintered.

That's when he looked down at his hands. They were all bruised and bloody with splinters here and there. At the heat of the moment he hadn't really noticed. Now that he did the pain caught up to him. He winced.

Bubbles was about to say something else when she noticed that his gaze was cast elsewhere.

"Oh my God! Are you okay?" Her anger at him entirely forgotten she closed their distance and knelt down, examining his hands.

Brick leaned away from her scrutinizing gaze, her floral perfume invading his senses. He really didn't appreciate her nearness. If anything it made him cautious.

The blue puff ignored him and clutched his wrists closer to her to get a better look. "What did you even do? Bash your hands against wood?"

"Pretty much."

Bubbles finally let go of his wrists. "There's no way you could have done so much damage to your hands by doing that."

"You can if you don't use your super strength."

The puff stared at him in bewilderment, but didn't question him further. Instead she brought out a small med-kit from her bag. Why did she even have that was a mystery.

Brick actually hadn't noticed her dark blue bag on her shoulder before. In fact he hardly had paid attention to her appereance as soon as she appeared. Now when he did he saw that she was dressed in light blue jeans and a gray sweater with a kitten on it. He snorted. How very Bubbles-like, of course it had to be a kitten.

While Brick was taking his time observing her Bubbles had already dug out some tweezers and took a hold of his hand. That's when Brick flinched back from her, throwing her a dirty glare.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Helping you," she replied in a deadpan voice. He could see that she was trying to conceal her anger. Her voice might be steady, but her face said otherwise.

"Why?"

Bubbles sighed. She leaned back and sat down on the ground, her legs tired from the crouch. "Because it's the right thing to do even if you are a bastard." She glared accusingly at him. "I can't forgive you for destroying the forest, but I also can't leave you here bleeding. Knowing you, you had a reason for doing this." With her head she motioned to the beaten up trees behind her.

This made zero sense. She was angry with him, that much was visible, but helping him, a villain, made no sense. And what made her think that she knows him. Apart from their spats before their fights they hardly communicated. Well...actually like never. When they talked or fought everything was usually addressed to their counterparts.

This chick had lost her mind. She should be taking the opportunity in taking him out. If he's out of the picture then so are his brothers. Those two dumbasses can't do shit without him.

"What makes you think that? Maybe I did destroy the forest for my sole sadistic pleasure or maybe I did it because I knew that it would get the attention of a puff and I could get a chance to kill her..." He smirked when he saw a glint of doubt and panic flash in her eyes.

But the puff recoiled and set her face in an impassive grimace. "You're lying. I know well enough that you posses enough tact not to do that." _Touché._ "And you wouldn't do such a reckless thing alone as this just to get our attention. The chances of all three of us coming here are too high."

Damn. The blonde puff had left him speechless there for a moment. When did she become so smart? Although this raises an another question.

"Speaking about that: why are you here alone then?"

"Patrol."

"What?"

"I was on patrol when I heard weird noises coming from the forest. Blossom makes all of us patrol the city before we go to bed, to make sure that everything is in order."

Well, that's something he didn't know. Red really did take this whole hero thing way too seriously. Patrolling the city? That's just a bit too much. It's like she lacks faith in the authorities of Townsville.

"Anyway, that's not important right now." She scooted closer to him and before he could protest took his left wrist, pushed up the sleeve of his hoodie and started working on it with her tweezers.

"Yeowch!" He almost pulled his hand away when she pulled out a particularly big splinter from his finger, sadly Bubbles was holding on to his wrist with an iron grip. If he wasn't so tired right now he would have already fled the place. In the end it wasn't the wisest choice to use trees as punching bags bare handed without the use of his super strength. Okay...he might have used it a bit at one point. There's no way he could have blown up a tree in millions of splinters with normal strength.

Bubbles kept working on his hand for a few minutes more before she switched up to his other. All this time Brick was trying to conceal his whimpers of pain and his growing suspicion that he had fallen in an alternative universe.

This felt so surreal. He watched her clear blue eyes narrow in concentration, her blonde, collar length hair styled into two low pony tails move in the breeze. He felt her dainty, warm hand squeeze around his wrist to prevent movement. He especially found it odd how she suddenly furrowed her brows and set her mouth in a deep frown while before her face had been more or less impassive. That's when he found out that it was her concentration face 'cause at right that moment she pulled out an unusually huge splinter from between his fingers. It had been wedged in quite deep and Brick couldn't stop himself from letting out a yelp.

"You know, I'm kind of curious...what made _you_ come here?" Her soft voice surprised him. She had been pretty quiet for a while. That's when she switched the tweezers up for a cloth and some antiseptic. "This is gonna sting a bit." When she started to dab the blood away with the cloth it made his skin burn. "Are you listening?"

Brick grunted in response. He didn't feel like explaining himself to her. It was already embarrassing enough that Mojo was throwing them out. He didn't need to add her pity to it. He hated that.

"So why are you here?" Bubbles asked a small smile appearing on her lips. "It can't be because you _just_ wanted to smash things - that's Butch's thing."

The woman was way too perceptive for her own good.

The ruff glared in response. If she thinks that he will spill his guts to her she has another thing coming.

"Well?" She lightly nudged his shoulder with a giggle. "I want an explanation on why did the forest have to suffer the wrath of the mighty Brick."

Yeah...no. The _mighty Brick_ won't succumb to her charms.

When Bubbles started to wrap his hands in gauze and he still hadn't bothered to answer her question she frowned.

He probably should have tired to explain himself in some way just so she wouldn't be angry at him and turn him in. The problem was he couldn't find the will in him to do so. She had hurt his pride enough for babying his hands. Telling her would be worse. At least that's what he tired to tell himself over and over.

The blue puff finally let go of his hands. She put away her tools. "Fine. Be stubborn and don't answer me." She got up from the ground and dusted off her pants. "But just so you know, whatever it was that got you in a sour mood can be fixed. If not there's always an alternative."

That caught his interest.

"What if the reason why I'm upset is because I can't beat your sister to death? Would you like to suggest an alternative to that?" He couldn't stop the grin forming on his face when he saw her flinch back. That should strike home with her. "You really shouldn't spout bullshit when you know nothing about the situation."

Bubbles glared and huffed. "Insufferable jerk," she muttered and turned to walk away. When she was in the middle of the field she stopped. "By the way, I won't say anything to my sisters about this." She had spoken this so quietly that if Brick wouldn't have his super hearing he would have missed it. With that Bubbles flew up in the dark sky.

Why is she doing this?

Is she trying to protect him in some kind of twisted way of hers? Seriously, just why? Did he hit his head somewhere along the way and hallucinated?

She should have been angry with him. She should have put him out of his misery then and there. Why didn't she?

The ruff groaned and ran his hand down his face in exasperation. Women are way too complicated for him to ever understand. On a side note, she had bandaged his hands quite well. He couldn't move his fingers, but at least it stopped the bleeding.

He sat on the ground for a few minutes more before he decided that it's time to get out of there. The blonde could suddenly change her mind and come back. Still he had to spend good five minutes trying to locate his hat in the mess.

Only when he arrived back home to the aftermath of the ruckus that had previously been there he got the meaning of her words.

That's right! An alternative. If Mojo didn't want them and they sure as heck didn't want to live with the devil they could live by themselves. This whole thing could have been avoided if he had had a clear mind from the very beginning.

So that's how the three of them ended up renting an apartment. Of course the way they got it wasn't entirely innocent, a couple of threats and blackmail was involved, but they got a nice place out of it. Not to mention that they only have to pay half the rent.

Being evil sometimes payed off.

Still after all that Brick couldn't get the blonde girl out of his mind. She had ended up being a completely different person from what he perceived her to be. She hadn't told a soul about their incident in the woods and the destruction he had left behind had been blamed on Fuzzy Lumpkins. If he had any sense of compassion he would feel guilty for putting the blame on Fuzzy. Even a month after he couldn't comprehend what made Bubbles make such a decision. It was illogical and stupid from her standpoint, but she had done it nonetheless.

The thought wouldn't leave him alone that's why he had sought her out a week later - to try to find her reason and bring peace to his over analyzing mind. It proved to be quite difficult to get a moment when the blonde was alone and not surrounded by a flock of friends. It genuinely surprised him to see so many people want to be around her. If it was him in her place people would look the other way. People often found his company too vexing and tiresome to stay around him for too long.

When he finally did catch her alone he approached her with the excuse that he came to apologize for his behavior and thank her for her help.

The puff was all smiles and giggles despite being tired from her cheerleading practice. She'd said that it was nothing and that he shouldn't violate the forest like that next time. She once again asked him why he had done it in the first place and he'd promptly had responded with a statement that had left her speechless for a while once again. Still moment later Brick swallowed his pride and had told her the real reason and how her advice had actually helped.

What shocked him the most was how understanding she was after that. He was already stumped enough by the fact that he had actually answered her prying question.

Once again Brick was absolutely lost with her logic and her actions.

He continued to seek her out any moment he could for the next month. He wouldn't admit it to himself, but in a way he trusted her and her viewpoint of things helped him solve questions he didn't know how to answer by himself. It didn't happen often, but when it did he trusted her opinion.

Bubbles from all of this was happy to find a friend in a person she least expected. Of course she didn't accept the fact that he still sought out havoc in the city from time to time and she promptly reminded him of that every time they met.

Weirdest part was that their siblings didn't suspect them at all. They had no clue that for the past two months the two had formed an odd friendship. Butch and Boomer for their part knew that something was up, since their brother had been in a better mood for the past weeks, but they didn't dare to question it much. Getting information out of Brick when he didn't want to say anything was a challenge that the two Rowdyruffs couldn't beat.

Brick was adamant to admit it, but the puff had changed him. She made him feel, see things he didn't see before. Even when he was an ass to her she didn't push him away. Instead she told him that he should learn to be more sensitive, compassionate. She told him that just with kindness and a smile you can make someone's day.

She sure did make his day with her bright smiles.

She told him things that before meeting her he sneered upon. He saw compassion as a weakness, something that would keep him back. Bubbles had proved with small acts of sympathy that you can achieve a lot.

So he wasn't the least bit surprised when one day he started to feel attracted to her more than a friend. It just sort of clicked. It was nice to know that there was someone out there that cared for him so much.

The red ruff didn't like beating around the bush, especially when he knew that he wasn't the only one who liked her, so one day he told her.

It had caught the puff off guard. At that moment she had almost fled the place. She wasn't ready for such a development at all. At first she had tried talking herself out of it and then stating that he wasn't the one for her. She still ran away after that.

For half a month she had avoided him. She had certainly bit off more than she could chew.

Brick for his part didn't do anything. He had accepted the fact that he had messed up and that it probably was for the best. Their friendship from the start was something that shouldn't have happened.

When the end of the month came rolling around he was surprised to encounter her on his way home from his job.

Bubbles had apologized for her actions and said that it's not the same anymore without him around, without their intriguing conversations, without their banter. She admitted that she liked having late nights in the diner with him, exploring the town with him. She hadn't realized it then, but they had done a lot of things together.

The ruff didn't know how, but he understood what she meant.

That's how it all had started. They slowly worked their way towards a relationship. Bubbles was still insistent the whole thing, but she couldn't deny her curiosity. After all what they were doing was behind everyone's backs and was oh so wrong. Some part of her felt guilty about it.

"Hey...you awake?"

The red ruff got thrown out of his musings when Bubbles slightly nudged his side. He absently checked his bedside clock. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that two hours had flown by without notice.

"Yea..." He sighed, casting a glance towards Bubbles. Despite just waking up she already had that spark in her eyes.

"What were you thinking about?" Bubbles rolled on her stomach to get a better look at him. The few patches of bare skin when she moved didn't go unnoticed, she was wonderfully naked under the sheet.

"You." _Oh boy, he sure was thinking about her way more than before and not in an innocent way._

Bubbles tittered with a small snort. "What's so interesting about me?"

Brick smiled. "Everything."

With a playful punch to his side the puff laughed and leaned closer to him. "Don't over exaggerate." She tenderly kissed his shoulder, making Brick shudder. Now she's just teasing him. "You're way interesting than me."

That made the ruff chuckle. Only Bubbles would think that. "Would you believe me if I told you that I'm actually very boring."

"Nonsense and I can prove it."

Interest piqued the ruff changed his positioning - he laid on his side, propping his head in his hand. "Do say?"

"For starters you blow my mind each time we meet with something new."

He didn't miss the double meaning of her words. So he kissed her, setting her on her back.

She gladly reciprocated, running her hands down his chest, delicate fingers leaving a trail of fire. She managed to turn him into mush so easily, it was insane.

Soon after he started trailing light kisses along her cheek, yaw and neck. He ran his free hand down her side, lingering a bit longer at the side of her breast. This earned him a soft mewl from the puff. When he was about to go lower his actions got interrupted by the shrill ring of a phone.

Bubbles lurched up, effectively pushing the ruff off. "Oh God. I forgot." She quickly untangled herself from the sheets and searched the ground for her purse. When she located it under the bed she rummaged through it and pulled out the cause of the noise. Without checking the caller ID she answered it. "Yes?"

" _Bubbles, where are you?"_ With his super hearing he could hear the anxious voice of his counterpart on the other end. It's bad to listen in, but at this moment Brick was curious as to what was so important to disturb them from their fun.

"I'm at a friends place. I'm sorry, Blossom, but I forgot. I'll be right over. I know how important the exhibition is to you." _That didn't sound good._

" _You better_ ," Blossom answered in a stern tone. " _May I know this friend of yours that has captured your attention so much these past weeks? You're rarely at home anymore."_

Bubbles shakily sighed. "You know how the cheerleading team has that national competition coming up? Well, as captain I need to go over all of the choreography and lines and I can't do it without my vice-captain. Kendall has been really helpful, so I sometimes stay over at her place to practice and stuff. She has a gym in her house...and I'm serious I couldn't do this without her help."

" _Okay, Bubbles I get it. No need to talk my ear off. Just be home before nine. We need to get ready."_

"Okay. Bye."

"You just lied to her."

With shaking hands Bubbles put her phone back in her purse. "I know and I feel so bad about it." She gave him a sad look. "Every time I come over I feel like Blossom is onto me. It's driving me nuts."

Brick sat up in his bed. "So...?"

"I don't think that I'll be able to handle the pressure of not telling her. I hate lying to my sisters, Brick. Don't you feel bad about lying to Butch and Boomer too?"

Honestly, he didn't. It probably made him a bad person, but he wasn't exactly trying to win the Golden Boy of the year award. Though he sort of understood what she meant. It was tiring constantly going behind their backs, not that it was super hard for him, since after two weeks of living together with his brothers he had gotten a separate apartment.

"Kind...of..."

Bubbles dismissed his uncertain reply by searching for her clothes. "I'm sorry, but I have to run. There's an important exhibition Blossom is participating in and my and Buttercup's attendance is mandatory." She quickly dressed herself, running her hand through her hair to get tangles out.

The ruff huffed and fell back into his bed. "I understand."

Before leaving Bubbles gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Thank you. I'll see you later."

The blue puff left soon after that, leaving him alone.

"Fuck!" This has been happening a lot more often lately. Ever since they took their relationship to the next level Bubbles' sisters has started to pester her about her whereabouts. Brick wasn't blind, it was taking a toll on her. She'll crack and tell her sisters or dump him, whichever was more important to her. And the scary part was that Brick didn't know.

While he had decreased his villainous acts a lot, he still hasn't given up the lifestyle of a criminal just yet. He knew that this bothered Bubbles a lot. They both knew that they were engaging into something forbidden, something that shouldn't happen between a hero and a villain and as the most emotional Powerpuff it put Bubbles under a lot of pressure.

He knew that if he doesn't do something he would lose Bubbles 'cause right now the odds were stacked against him. He didn't want to lose her, but he wasn't sure if he can handle living a normal life. It just didn't fit him. Even though he's working a small job in a garage as a mechanic it still doesn't pay all of the bills and every so often he ends up hijacking a store with the use of his powers.

He just didn't know what to do. Without Bubbles he felt empty, without being a criminal he would end up on the streets.

Fate really was a cruel thing.

* * *

 _I know I'm an evil tease, but I like ending my one-shots on questions. This time: do you think that Brick will figure this ting out and stay with Bubbles or will Bubbles eventually leave him?  
_

 _Anyway if you have a PPG/RRB pairing you want to see my next one-shot about - comment. For now I already have an idea on what to do next, but if someone wants to read something else I'll do that. I'll admit that lately I've been way too hung up on angst...so yea..._

 _Thanks for reading._


	3. I'll Be There (Butch Blossom)

_Thanks for your support guys so far :D_

 _Okay, since the request for Butch and Bubbles came kind of late this is a short with a different pairing, my favorite ship btw. But no worries I'll make the next one about Butch and Bubbles. Bubbles is oddly popular for mixed pairings, she's also the character I have the most trouble on the other hand is quite fun to write.  
_

 _Also, I don't really ever mention this 'cause I don't want people to start paying too much attention to it, but I'm well aware that my grammar sucks. I do try to keep it clean, but sadly grammar laws for english are different than in latvian. Not to mention that I'm not that good with grammar in general. I'm going have to re-read this later anyway to fix any mistakes that I can find.  
_

 _Song for this chapter is I'll be There by Hollywood Undead_

 _Anyway, enough of my rambling and enjoy the story._

* * *

The humming, the mumbling and the light thrum of music was going to drive Butch insane. The three women in the car with him were completely oblivious to his sour mood and unintentionally were only making it worse by making annoying noise. Especially Bubbles. He hadn't even turned the radio on knowing that it would only worsen his headache, but the blonde had found a tune to hum to anyway.

He constantly told himself that it's not far until they reach the city and it's not their fault that he was in a sour mood because of last nights long shift. Not to mention that he had to write his report about it, yet here he was giving a car ride to the three sisters because Blossom, his girlfriend, had asked him nicely.

Speaking about said red head, she was currently hunched over a tablet, mumbling to herself. Butch guessed that like always she was triple checking the things she had written down that will be needed for Bubbles and Boomer's anniversary party.

As soon as her blonde sister had announced that she will be having a party for her three year wedding anniversary the pink puff lost her shit, she was in full on planning mode. Bubbles hadn't been better. He had heard enough of Blossom's phone conversations with the blonde girl to know that she got especially argumentative when dresses and decorations were involved.

Thank goodness that there was Buttercup, who seemed to be the only sane one and wasn't spazzing out all over the place, in fact she looked almost as annoyed as him if her scrunched up facial expression was any indicator. How her sisters had talked her into coming to this shopping spree they were planning he had no clue and he didn't really feel like finding out either.

His mind off the girls he thought back to the fire they were unable to extinguish properly in time. He had to constantly remind himself that being a firefighter was a taxing job and failures sometimes were inevitable. Still a couple of lives were lost and it was making him salty. He never thought that he would be a person who would particularly care if people died, but the longer he worked the more he got attached to the whole thing and saving a life was almost like a prize.

"I see that we're practicing aggressive driving again..." Blossom's voice snapped him out of his musings.

He glowered at her in return. "I'm not. This is how I always drive."

"Sure, sure, but your jerky movements and sharp take of corners tell me otherwise."

"The sarcasm isn't appreciated." He knew that in a way she was right. He was currently on edge and was easily irritable, so it was only natural that his driving was affected by it.

Blossom sighed. "I know you had a rough night, but please try not to drive us in a ditch."

Butch wanted to retort with the fact that she could have driven herself to the city then, but instead kept his mouth shut. He had had enough arguments with her to know that arguing with the red head is pointless, she would back up all of her arguments with such flawless logic that when he tried to argument back she told him to stop acting like an ass. Besides there's no way in hell he's driving this car in a ditch, Brick would be pissed as fuck at him then. He already borrowed one of his cars without asking, that was enough flame thrown his way as it is.

"Hey, Blossom!" Bubbles sprung up from her seat to sit in the middle. "I just remembered that while we're there we should order the cake too. At first I thought that maybe I could bake it myself, but with all this planning and my job I won't have any time."

Blossom picked back up her tablet and started typing. "Uh, sure, but try not to order anything too big we're on a tight budget as it is."

"Great!" The blonde beamed. "I already have so many ideas. At first I thought that I could make the cake match the decorations, but then I figured that it needs to have a theme..." After that point Butch tuned Bubbles' chatting out, he wasn't interested in the slightest. He had already heard plenty of things about dresses when they were discussing the topic on phone last week. He really should tell Blossom to turn the volume of her phone down...it didn't help that she had a loud voice as well.

When they finally drove in the city Butch grunted. "Fuckin' perfect. A traffic jam." That's seriously the last thing he needed. He was late with sending in his report as it is, his bridge manager won't be happy about that. Morning rush was the worst.

From the backseat he heard Buttercup sigh loudly, also noticing the predicament they had gotten into. He was just glad that she decided not to comment on it, he doesn't want to deal with her snarky comments at all.

"Shoot! This will put a dent in my timetable. I already had to beg my boss to give me a day off, I can't waste it sitting in traffic. Can't you find a way around, Butch?" Blossom inquired, her voice uneven.

Butch gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter. "It's too late for that. We're stuck here until it clears."

Blossom heaved a large sigh and rubbed her temples. From what he could remember Blossom wasn't doing too swell in her job either, not that she was incompetent in contrary she was one of the best programmers on the team. Just at the start of the week she herself had told him that the current project she's working on is stressing her out and she's sorry for ignoring him.

Bubbles took this as her chance to turn on the radio and switch it to a station that she likes. And once again Butch had to bite down his protests.

"Hmm...I almost forgot..." Butch did not like the tone Blossom had, bad things usually happened when she got that tone...well for him. "We'll need to buy you a tie as well to match my dress. Hopefully you still fit in your suit, I don't think that we have the money to buy a new one."

"Are you implying that I'm fat?"

Blossom threw him an incredulous look. "Don't twist my words."

Butch frowned, impatiently thrumming his fingers on the steering wheel. "Well, I can assure you that I still fit in it." Leave it to Blossom to fret over things that aren't even that important.

"Well, I'll take your word for it."

After that they all fell silent, the hum of the radio and the loud horns blaring outside the only noise. It was almost serene in a way. He was so tired that one of the most annoying sounds on the planet was lulling him to sleep. That's just crazy.

Last night had been so hectic, he had hardly gotten in three hours of sleep before Blossom had woken him up and asked him to drive her to the city. Why had he even agreed to do so? He had no idea. The decision came so naturally to him that he hadn't even questioned it at the moment. If someone had asked him such a favor a few years earlier he might have told them to fuck off.

He really had changed these past few years, meeting Blossom was a large part of it. Not only had she accepted him as he was all those years back, she also tried to make a better person out of him. And she had been so subtle about it too that he hadn't even noticed.

There were days when he thought why had she even put so much effort in a rowdy delinquent that was on the verge of being kicked out of university like him. She was a exemplary student: the teachers liked her, she did all of the work with utter precision, she was never late, never cut lectures and participated in any extracurricular activities she could. And then there was him a slob (in comparison to her) that hardly ever showed up to lectures, barely passed tests, got into fights on campus, stole money and changed girlfriends more often than he changed socks.

He always did chuckle a bit at their first encounter. It had been so random.

It was one of those rare days when he had decided to have a cup of coffee in the small coffee shop near the campus. He had had a rough night and was in a need of something that could bring sheer normality back into his life. It was also one of those days when the shop was packed full and every table was brimming with people, except for his. Apparently he had been sporting quite a mean expression the whole time and people stayed away in case he was a mugger or worse as Blossom had later put it.

Then she had entered the shop, ordered a latte and without any thinking took a seat at his table even when there were some free spots at other tables. Her action had caught him off guard at first, but he quickly had put back his mask of indifference. It's not like it bothered him that she decided to sit there.

She had effectively ignored him the first five minutes by bringing out a text book and a binder and taking notes, until she had slammed the pen down on the table, nearly spilling her latte and groaned loud enough for a couple of people to turn heads.

He would have chosen to ignore her random outburst if she hadn't started ranting about the most superficial thing he had ever heard - the color of the pen the lecturer had said they have to use to write their notes.

It was so ridiculous to see her ramble about it that he had lost it. That had been one of the best laughing sessions he had had.

How could someone not give a fuck and sit at the same table with someone who looks like he could bite off her head and study, but give so many fucks about the color of the pen? That's what he had exactly told her after he stopped laughing.

Her glare after that was quite vicious. If he hadn't been already used to those piercing hard glares from his brother he might have flinched.

She had lectured him about his foul language and explained her reasoning for complaining. He honestly doesn't remember what her reasoning was 'cause it all had been a jumbled mess, but he does remember that she had been stressed to the point of losing her shit about the most mundane of things.

It all had escalated into him teaching her how not to give a fuck about shit that's not important at all. At first she had told him off, but the longer she listened the more enticed she became with the subject and she even managed not to interrupt him to scold him for the brash use of his language.

He's actually quite proud of that moment. He got a chance to teach Blossy a life lesson that she was well in need 'cause after that all lessons came from her.

That's how they first met and after that one meeting they both had found each other to be an interesting conversation partner and kept in touch. At that point she didn't really know about his habits, but after three months she accidentally found out about them. It did sway her view of him quite a bit, but didn't affect her in the long run. First impressions had already been made and he had proved to her that he's not as bad as the rumors are saying he is.

Blossom was nothing like he had imagined her to be. He thought that she's one of those quiet nerds that sit in the front row and orgasms every time the teacher acknowledges their smarts and praise them for it, that all she does is study, has no social life and couldn't flirt with a guy to save her life.

Boy had she proven him wrong.

She had one of the loudest voices he had ever heard, she didn't take shit from anyone. She enjoyed questioning teachers and driving them in a corner if she could. She could be bossy as hell, but people still flocked to her for help and advice. He was also surprised to find out that she also had two sisters just like he had two brothers. It was also cause of her sisters that she was more social than she wanted to be. Her sisters enjoyed dragging her to a party, an event or even a concert. Still she had fun none the less and held no grudge against her siblings.

The only thing he was semi-right about was the flirting part. He found really early on that if she wasn't aware that he was flirting with her she would flirt back, but once she was aware she clammed up and it was a lost cause to continue flirting with her. She was an expert at changing the topic at that point.

All over he had found her to be an enticing person that could always bring something new into a conversation or figure out a new activity to do to pass time, surprisingly enough. Once they had established a semi-solid friendship she always found a way to string him along with her activities and ideas. Not that he had turned into a welcome mat, he could put up a fight and decline her too or drag her to do some of his favorite pastimes as well. Of course smoking, beating up punks or fucking weren't involved as much as he wanted to do the latter with her, but he did like to remind her that that option was always available.

This also reminded him that because of their odd friendship Bubbles and Boomer met too. Those two certainly didn't dance around each other as he and Blossom did at one point. They realized quite quickly that they are both kindred spirits and enjoy almost everything the other does, so naturally they started dating till two years later they decided to marry.

It was also around that time when he and Blossom had realized that they might like each other to that extent as well. They both had influenced each other so much that he was an important part of her life and vice versa. But unlike their siblings they haven't tied the knot. Both of them are content with their relationship as it is.

"Hey, you okay?" The soft voice of Blossom snapped him out of his thoughts.

He quickly looked around to realize that he had drifted off and that the they were almost at their destination already.

He blinked and rubbed his eyes to clear his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Jus' tired is all."

She gingerly smiled at him. "After you drop us off you can go back to sleep as long as you want, I promise. Bubbles already talked to Boomer and he will drive us back home. When I'll get back I'll also make some dinner for you, so you don't have to worry about that either."

He smiled back at her. "Thanks." Just that sentence alone from her had lifted his spirits. He was so glad that he didn't live alone anymore. It was just nice to know that there is someone out there that can take care of him when he's feeling like shit, when self care is the last thing he'd do.

"You can drop us off here!" Bubbles sprung into their conversation pointing at a street. When Blossom was about to ask why there Bubbles cut her off. "There's a shop on this street that I want to check out."

"Bubbles, we won't have time to..."

The blonde cut Blossom off again. "I must go there, Blossom. Robin recommended that shop to me and I need to see it."

"Ugh, Bubbles, if we listen to your every request we will never finish this dumb "shopping spree". I don't want to spend my whole day stuck in shops that smell like rubber." Buttercup put her two cents in. She had been oddly quiet the whole ride, now when they were finally in the city and the length of their day was being discussed she woke up from her stupor. Now that's the Buttercup Butch knows - complaining about almost everything her sisters do.

"You don't understand, Buttercup. I need to have the most perfect dress for my party and Robin said that _Fleur_ has some of the prettiest and qualitative dresses in the city." Bubbles wasn't going to give up with her choice that much was visible. Still he made sure to stop where she had pointed to. If he knew these sisters enough (which he did) then he had a hunch how this argument is going to end.

Before Buttercup could open her mouth Blossom beat her to it. "Don't start arguing, Buttercup. It's for her party and if Bubbles wants to go we'll go. We already talked about this yesterday, don't test my patience again." Buttercup huffed and crossed her arms. Apparently Blossom had worked some kind of magic on the banshee if that shut her up. "Besides you might find a nice dress for yourself there as well. A little birdie told me that Mitch would love to see you in a sexy dress."

Now that made Butch laugh. Blossom was smug as hell and Buttercup was red as a tomato. Oh, she put her down good.

Bubbles grinned in victory. "Alright! A girls day out is full in progress!" She grabbed her bag and practically jumped out of the car. Buttercup grudgingly followed her.

That only left Blossom. The red head gathered up her tablet and stuffed it in her purse. "I'll try to be home by five, okay."

He nodded in response and grinned. "I'll be waiting...in bed."

She rolled her eyes, but smiled back nonetheless. "Sure, Mr. Bigshot." She pecked him on the lips before exiting the car to meet up with her sisters.

Somehow the loss of few hours of sleep and the annoyance that plagued him before was all worth it in the end.

* * *

 _What I want to talk in this note is about the real meaning of this story. On the surface it looks like this is simply about a car ride with bickering sisters and Butch remembering how he met Blossom and such (I see a pattern happening here. I'll need to break it with the next story), but in reality this was about unconditional love. If you remember that one paragraph where Butch said that he has no clue why he agreed to drive Blossom to the city despite him being tired. That was it. And I'm here to explain it in his place.  
_

 _There's tons of stories where love is made out to be this magical, romantic thing that you absolutely must have, that will fix all problems. It's such a misleading message that it's crazy.  
_

 _In this story I wanted to show unconditional love (some small part of it at least), which is when you're ready to help out the other person despite you being tired, busy or not in the mood all over. And you do this without expecting a reward in return. In this story Butch did exactly that - he helped out Blossom not expecting anything in return, of course by the end of the story she did reward him. Meaning that she does appreciate him enough to know that he sacrificed his own time to help her out. (I also tried to throw in a little bit of character development there for Butch, but I'm not overly confident with that.)  
_

 _What I'm trying to say with this is that (I'm bad at writing corny romance and I don't get the concept of dating) love shouldn't be idealized and it's much more than pretty words._

 _Anyway thank you so much if you read the whole thing. It took me a long time to flesh this out (in the end I did write half of this in a few hours anyways xD) but I wanted to make it clear as I can. idk if I actually succeeded, but I tried. So tell me what you think._


	4. Come as you are (Bubbles Butch)

_Thanks for your support so far, guys._

 _So here I finally complete the anon request with Butch and Bubbles. This is by far the longest one shot I have written. I had fun while writing it as well, since it discussed topics that I like. Anyway the song for this chapter is Come as You Are by the Nirvana._

* * *

Bubbles was sitting in the park on a bench, sketching in her drawing pad. It was sunny and warm. Hardly any cloud in the late afternoon sky. Her classes for the day had ended. Even though she was tired from her lectures and the homework she had to do in the past two weeks she still got the urge to go out and sketch the scenery. It was almost relaxing in it's intensity.

She had made a quick sketch of the view she had from here, adding in the few bypassing people in the picture and from there had lost herself in the finer details and few fantasy touch ups.

Final exams were coming and she felt stressed beyond reason. She had so much studying to do. Drawing felt like a nice reprieve from all of that.

She knew that she had been neglecting her friends and family for the past two weeks, but her grades came first. Blossom would understand, in fact she had encouraged her to take such an action just to improve her score. Of course she was torn about the results so far. The need to communicate to someone else besides her roommate and few classmates was strong, but she reassured herself that it will end soon, her last exam being next day, and after that she could proudly strut into her childhood home and announce to her family members that she's passed with flying colors.

Bubbles quickly glanced up at the large volcano that mostly took up her picture then back at her drawing adding more detail to it.

She silently smiled to herself. This place brought back so many memories to her. She could remember all the times she had walked through here as a child and played on the playground. She and her sisters had once even tried to climb the inactive volcano. Their father had been horrified finding them later on with bruises and scratches, a cop by their side. The man had been kind enough to inform them to get down from there and bring them back to their parent.

The blonde giggled.

Later on in life, when she was a teenager, she had tried to climb it again. That hadn't been very successful either. Of course she hadn't gotten very far because she remembered the last time. Buttercup had called her a wuss for bailing out after two steps. She was smart enough to know that she didn't possess enough strength to actually get far and falling because her arms gave out hadn't felt appealing either.

Her deep thoughts were disturbed when she noticed that someone was obscuring the sun for her. When she looked up she saw a face she hadn't expected to see.

Green eyes were gazing at her curiously, trying to gauge what she was drawing on the paper.

"You have been avoiding me." It was a statement not a question, she heard, and in a slightly accusing tone too.

"Not really." She honestly wasn't. She just has been to busy to really hang out with anyone. Picking up his calls hadn't felt appealing either, knowing that he would talk her ear off about things she didn't particularly care about or even needed to know about. It was distracting too. Though she never realized that her actions might upset him. After all she had sent him texts back saying that she was studying. Her other friends understood.

"Well, it feels like it," he huffed and took a seat beside her. She absently noticed that he had his backpack with him, meaning that he had just gotten out of classes too. "Here I've been trying to get in touch and hang out with a friend, but she gives me the finger. What was I supposed to think?"

Bubbles stopped her sketching to look at him incredulously. "That I maybe, oh I don't know, was actually, as I said in my texts, studying. Weren't you studying either? For you it should matter even more, with it being your last year in uni."

Butch shrugged, leaned back and put up his hands at the back of the bench. He was sitting close enough to her that his right arm went past her. "I was. But you know, I like to take a breather once in a while too. Those blockheads I call my friends can get pretty overwhelming to hang out with all the time. I don't particularly like to stay around my brothers all the time too, so I come to you. You're the only girl so far that hasn't ran from me after two months."

"Gee, thanks."

He beamed at her in return.

"Has it ever occurred to you that those girls run maybe because you have commitment issues. Or let's just be real here - you're doing the running." She knew she hit a nerve when he scowled, but wiped it off immediately after.

"I rather not talk about that...Anyway, what are you drawing?"

She accepted his change of topic and explained what she was doing. She knew that relationships were a sore spot for him. Even if he was a dick with girls he still got affected by the break ups. Well...more or less. She has to admit that there have been times when she had wondered why he never tried to do anything with her. Ah...her sister must be the reason why. When they had met the guys for the first time in high school Buttercup had made quite the scene when Butch had tried to touch her butt. It was then when she had declared to keep his slimy claws off of her and her sisters. Buttercup's words not hers.

Later that year she and Boomer had gotten along pretty well, they were sort of friends till this day. Blossom and Brick had found a common ground too. Buttercup was the only one who didn't like the brothers. She got into plenty of fights with them. Of course things changed a lot when they entered university. It was also how she had become friends with Butch, both of them being in the same faculty. It was a huge surprise for her. She hadn't expected for him to be in the same university as her, let alone the same faculty.

After five minutes of her explaining what she was doing Butch interrupted her. "Okay, I understand. No need to describe every detail." He went quiet after that, silently watching her continue her drawing.

It set her on the edge bit that he was staring at her draw like that, not being used to people watching her draw, but she pushed away the feeling. Butch had seen her draw before and she was pretty much already used to him peering over her shoulder, throwing off hand remarks about her drawings. It's just that it has been a while since she has last drawn anything and she doesn't really feel that confident in her skills right now.

"I wanna draw something too. Give me some paper?" He was rummaging through his bag for a pen when she interrupted him.

"Oh no way I'm doing that. Last time I let you draw with me you drew something I rather not remember."

Butch laughed, remembering the scratchy doodles. "You gotta admit that it was pretty genius, right?"

Bubbles snorted. "Sure it was." Sarcasm laced her voice. "Except there's nothing genius about stick figures in intimate positions or silhouettes of naked women." She deliberately left out the part where she thought that the silhouettes had been drawn pretty well for someone who can't draw and that one of those silhouettes had a suspiciously similar hairstyle to hers. Honestly, she had no idea what he was trying to pull with that. Heck, half the time she couldn't guess what his intentions were. He was just that unpredictable.

"You just don't know how to appreciate the beautiful act of sex and the wonderful bodies of women."

She scoffed and elbowed him in the side. "Just shut up. If you want to draw so much then maybe you could join me on the drawing classes I plan on taking during the summer?" She sounded desperate even when she was trying to be mocking, she noted. But really she wanted to take those classes and everyone she asked to join her refused. She knew it was babyish of her, but she wanted some familiar company. Butch was her last chance at getting that wish.

Sadly for her he picked up on the desperation in her voice. He smirked mischievously. "Now why would I do that? I don't even like drawing."

She pursued her lips in an angry pout. She put away her drawing in her binder, knowing that she won't be able to work on it anymore now that Butch was here. She wracked her brain for some sort of excuse to persuade him. She was well aware from that glint in his eye that the only way she would be able to talk him into it is if she did a favor for him. She was planning to avoid that. Owning favors for Butch was just asking for trouble.

"Please, Butch, do this for me. I really need someone there with me."

He chuckled and flicked her forehead. "Not gonna happen, pigtails."

Her angry pout turned into a sad pout. She rubbed her forehead and pinched him on the shoulder in return. Her frown deepened when he laughed at her in response. Such a meanie. Was it too much to ask? All she wanted was some familiar face to talk to while in class. It was a great bonding experience. Hell, the classes weren't even that long - two days a week for a month.

She wanted to say something to change his mind, but nothing came to her. She mulled over the nature of the classes. Her mouth opened before she could even register what she was saying. "You might get a chance to draw me naked."

At the shock on his face she realized what absurdity had come out of her mouth, what she had proposed. She felt her face warm up all the way to the tips of her ears. She turned her face away to try and hide the blush from him. Open mouth, insert foot. She was a prime example of that right now. Where had that even come from? Sure the classes included anatomy studies, but not naked model drawing or anything like that.

 _What the hell was wrong with her?_

When she looked back at him she saw the tiniest rose coloring on his face as well, but unlike her he was beaming.

"That's a tempting suggestion," he hummed. "But I'm afraid that's not going to make me want to join some lame drawing classes."

She almost glared at him for suggesting that drawing was something degenerating. He and his stupid male pride. She could bet her head that he thought that the simple act of drawing was weak and a girly thing to do. She will prove him wrong.

She shook her head, clearing her head before she got anymore unwanted verbal diarrhea. "Okay, fine." She gave up...for now. It was obvious that she's not going to talk him into going with her right now. She needs to find some kind of leverage that she could use to her advantage. Something that doesn't possibly involve with her getting naked.

She sighed. With her being busy these past two weeks she hadn't had much time to really find any leverage against anyone. Maybe she should stop acting like a child and just go alone. It was her passion and it was her choice to take extra classes during the summer.

She gazed up at the sky, noting that the sun was really low in the sky already. She must have spent two hours drawing before Butch came and interrupted her. Hmm...she wondered...

"How did you know that I was going to be here anyway?"

Her voice snapped him out of his own musings. "Hmm, oh, I was just lucky, I guess." She saw the same sparkle come back in his eyes. He was up to something. "It's a nice day, so I decided to pass through the park on my way back. You just happened to be here. No way I'm going to leave you alone after all the avoiding you've been doing." He smiled.

She rolled her eyes. "I wasn't avoiding you."

"Could've fooled me. I even tried to catch you while you were in your dorm, but you were never there."

She laughed lightly. "Our schedules simply don't match up. I'm still a first year, you're not. And if you really wanted to see me you could've just come after exams and classes."

He gave a noncommittal hum, turning his gaze to the volcano. "It didn't feel appropriate to go and bug you so late."

Ah, that's right. A guy entering the girls dorm that late might look suspicious, people might misunderstand. Though sometimes she did question the nature of their friendship. Like, for example, why was he even so adamant to hang out with her so much. They certainly didn't have the same interests. He liked sports and fighting, she liked arts and crafts, studying languages and animals. Though she did have to admit that while he at first appeared to be a dumb blockhead he actually was a lot smarter and affectionate than he let on.

Hmm, maybe that's why they stuck together 'cause they both were so different they could learn new things from each other. There were plenty of times when Butch had engaged into some of her activities. Obviously he complained how dumb and meaningless they were, but he still had fun nonetheless. Just like there were time when he had talked her into joining him for his kickboxing practices or exercises. She also noticed that he liked beating her at the video games he made her play with him.

They really were an odd pair. Some of her friends had even mentioned so. Buttercup had even went as far as to tell her that he was trying to worm his way into her pants. Heh, if so he was putting in a lot of effort to simply get a romp out of her. She knew better. She always saw the positive side of people and Bubbles knew that no matter what vile things other people spoke about him that most of them weren't true and that deep down he was a good person.

"It's getting late. I should probably head back." Her voice broke the serene silence between them. It had been a while and she liked staying in his company even if he was insufferable sometimes, but she seriously had to revise some of her notes.

"I'll see you tomorrow then. I'll come by your place at eight for breakfast and you better be there." She giggled at his demanding tone. Heavens forbid he missed his chance to eat her cooking.

"Alright." With a wave of her hand she headed back to her dormitory.

She hummed in content. She hadn't even realized but she had missed his presence, his voice, his teasing. It brought a warm feeling to her chest to reunite with him after two weeks of no contact. Such an odd feeling. Maybe she should drop by Blossom on her way back to elevate the warmth. Talking with her loved ones had always brought her happiness.

* * *

It was two weeks later, when her summer break had already started and she still hadn't found anyone that would want to join her on her classes. She was running out of time, but one evening when she was hanging out with Boomer and their friends he had offhandedly mentioned her something about Butch that caught her interest.

That just might be the leverage she needed to convince him to come to the art classes with her.

She spent the next day planning a way to corner him. She went through different scenarios of ways she could talk to him, different places where she could possibly corner him.

She had laughed at herself when later on that same day she had ended up at the front of his apartment door without any plan in mind, only determination to finally win him over.

After their talk in the park she had started to have a bubbling suspicion that there was something different about their interaction. Heck, for the past month their interactions with each other had been way different than they had been at the start. She just had been too much of an air head to notice it earlier. And she had the gall to call herself the most empathetic one of her sisters. Then again she had always been a bit of an idiot when emotions towards her were involved.

Boomer and Butch shared an apartment. She was hoping for the brunette to answer the door, Boomer instead greeted her. Though thankfully he was home. Boomer told her that he's been working on something for the past few hours. From what his blonde brother had told her she had a suspicion on what he was working on. He let her inside. The blonde himself had to leave for band practice. He told her she could make herself at home and hastily grabbing his guitar left the apartment.

It wasn't her first time here, in fact she had come here plenty of times to even know where they kept the spoons.

She quietly made her way towards the door which she knew to be Butch's room. Part of her debated if she should sneak in and surprise him. She discarded that idea finding it way too intruding for her tastes. It really was something that he would do. Hell, who was she kidding, he had done that to her plenty of times. The brute was rubbing off on her if she had to debate her way of entrance now.

She went with the traditional way - knocking on his door. When she heard a grunt in response she took that as her cue to enter.

The room looked just like she last remembered it. His bed and rumpled sheets on the left, the TV, console and his dresser on the right and in front of her the table with his computer. And he was messy as always. He was currently occupying the chair in front the table, playing online games from what she could see . She frowned at that. Either Boomer lied to her or he was hiding something from her. He definitely heard her enter the apartment.

Deciding to make her presence known she harrumphed loud enough from him to briefly shift his eyes away from the screen. "Well?"

"Well what?"

Bubbles scoffed, his bored tone aggravating her, and trotted up to his computer only to turn off the screen. That earned her a loud 'hey' and a glare. "Don't play stupid. I know what you have been doing behind my back." She smirked, crossing her arms across her chest.

A brief glint of understanding passed in his eyes, but he quickly covered it. "What are you even talking about?"

She sighed, taking a seat at the edge of his bed. If he wanted to do this the hard way then so be it. She won't be gentle. Not this time.

"You will come with me to the art classes and that's final."

Butch groaned, running a hand down his face in exasperation. "Bubbles, I already told you that I don't want to attend any classes."

"Okay." He looked a bit taken back at how easily she agreed with him. "But at least show me what you have been drawing."

He immediately went red in the face at that. There she had said it. His flushed face did prove to be amusing to her. She had never seen him blush so hardly. She could feel her pride swell, knowing that she had made him beet red. This was a power she never thought she would have over him. The guy hardly ever got embarrassed.

Now she absolutely had to know what he had been drawing.

Butch had been deathly silent for the past five minutes, contemplating his options. He had turned away from her, fidgeting in his seat.

Bubbles knew that she might have come on a bit too strong, so she let him have his time. She silently watched him, drawing huge amusement from his uneasiness. When had she become so evil as to enjoy someones discomfort? Well, when that someone was Butch, the guy who changed girlfriends more often than he changes his socks, the guy who could do the most asinine things without batting an eyelash, obviously she was going to revel in the moment when she could actually catch him all flustered.

 _Damn._ Maybe he was rubbing off on her more than she would like to admit.

"Alright, alright. You got me." He waved his hands in defeat and slumped back in his chair. Even though he was still a bit pink in the face his ever persistent smirk had made it back in his features. "You are way more influential than you know."

She dropped her though act, relaxing a bit more. Who would have known that she had managed to affect him just as much as he her. She smiled gingerly after that realization.

She might have a though time admitting it to herself, but somewhere along the way during their friendship she had started to like him more than a friend. It one day hit her like a lighting bolt that she might harbor deeper feelings for her dark haired friend. What before she had thought to be mindless teasing in their conversations had actually been flirting. She had been so embarrassed when Robin had spelled out that fact for her.

Bubbles leaned forward, her hands clamping the edge of the bed. "Will you show me?" After his prolonged silence she added, "Please?"

He was clearly weighing out the options in his head. His gaze wavering between looking at the computer and the door.

Part of her was afraid that he might tell her to 'piss off' as he would kindly put it. The other part was hoping that whatever it was that it had to be mind blowing. She really, really wanted for it to be the latter.

After a minute he sighed. "Alright, I'll show you..." It felt like he wanted to add something more to the sentence, but cut himself off. She could see the nervousness in his eyes. Still she was happy with glee that he agreed to show her. Whatever it is it couldn't be that bad and he's probably embarrassed because it wasn't his niche.

He opened his desk drawer and pulled out a drawing pad. She was ecstatic to see that he was serious enough about it to even buy supplies. He handed it to her, looking away from her eyes.

Now that she had it in her hands she was almost afraid to open it. Ah, what the heck. Her curiosity is stronger anyway. She flipped the binder open and held her breath. She hadn't known what to expect, but cutesy animals covered in blood wasn't it. Actually those animal doodles looked a lot like her own, except more harsher around the edges and obviously had blood and weapons on them. He was copying her style and adding a twist of his own to it, she concluded.

How amusing.

She kept flipping through, noting how all over the place his style was. She could very well see with her expert eye that he was still learning and deliberately avoiding drawing specific things that caused him problems. Still she was impressed. This was a lot better than she had expected.

The whole time she was going through his sketch pad he had been quiet, observing her, gauging her reactions to what she saw. When she was nearing the more recent ones he snapped out of his stupor to take a seat beside her and finally explain himself.

He told her how he had been doodling things all through high school, classes were boring and drawing meaningless things on the side of his notes were a great pastime. When they became friends she had dragged him into drawing more. He really didn't want to admit it, but mindless drawing was a great stress release. Doing something so simple and effortless was a great change from his constant rough housing.

Bubbles didn't really know how to respond to all that, so she nodded to everything he said and kept flipping through the pad, admiring his improvement. Once she reached a specific place in the pad, Butch stopped her. It looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't decide what exactly to say. Instead he just released the hold on her hand and indicated for her to continue.

This little action of his scared her. Was she about to see something she wished she hadn't seen? She could never know with him. Though the seriousness of the atmosphere told her that it couldn't be anything like that.

Her breath got stuck in her throat once she flipped a page.

It was a picture of her...well somewhat. It was deeply stylized and wasn't finished, but she could clearly see her own features on the drawing. She gingerly ran a finger down the side of the drawing. It was incredible. The amount of detail. The precision. He really did try his hardest on this.

But why? Why draw her?

She didn't think she was anyone special. Sure people have told her that she was pretty, but never 'I want to draw your portrait' pretty. This really spoke volumes.

She ripped her gaze away from the drawing to look Butch right in the eye. He was staring at her, a lost look on his face. She really didn't know what to say to him. This whole thing was just such an unexpected reveal of events that she didn't even know what to think about the man anymore.

He always had come across as someone who would scoff at anything girly or artistic, instead finding pleasure in swinging his fists around. After all she had seen his vigor many times in the ring. He was vicious, rough and relentless. But now...now she was seeing him in a completely different light.

 _Ah, to hell with it._

She knew what she wanted and the fact that she had managed to affect him, catch his attention only strengthened that want.

She kissed him. Long and passionate, to convey her feelings. He understood actions better than words after all.

It took him a few seconds to recover from the shock and respond to her rows of kisses. She knew that he liked this turn of events when he was smiling all through their kisses. He brought his hand up to angle her face and kissed her deeper.

She had butterflies in her stomach, she could feel herself heating up. She hadn't realized, but she was nervous and had held her breath. She broke them up to breathe. Suddenly she was very, very self-conscious. All her bravado from before had died down.

Butch was looking at her with such intensity that she cold almost feel the emotions he was feeling.

She didn't know if she should be thankful or scared when he took the drawing pad from her, dropped it on the floor only to make her lie back on the bed and pepper her with butterfly kisses all over her face. Once he reached her lips he took advantage of her parted lips to give her an open mouthed kiss. She could feel his hands running up her sides, stopping at the undersides of her breasts. She sighed, closing her eyes.

Butch broke them apart. "You know, you can touch me too." Her eyes shot open at his teasing voice. This also made her belatedly realize that indeed her hands had been laying dormant at her sides this whole time. She giggled at his need to be touched. Despite her cheery demeanor now the tumbling feeling in her stomach did not want to settle. In the back of her mind she realized that they might be going way too fast with this.

She sat up, a small smile marrying her face and grabbed the edge of his sleeveless shirt, her hands slightly shaking. Butch understanding her intent lifted up his arms, helping her take the shirt off. Following his suggestion Bubbles touched him. She didn't want to admit, but she had wanted to touch his body, his scars ever since she first saw him training. It had been a perverted thought that she had dispelled immediately, but had been there nonetheless. She felt him shudder at her fingers running up his abdomen.

When she looked up she could see in his darkened eyes that he very much would like to ravish her senseless. Such raw want. It scared and excited her at the same time to know that someone wanted her so much.

He kissed her again, this time letting the kisses trail down to her collar. Bubbles led her hands up to the nape of his neck letting them travel further into his hair. His right hand found the zipper of her pastel blue dress and tugged it down. He then proceeded to slip off the straps of her dress.

Now in the back of her mind definite alarm bells were ringing. They should talk this out first. At least in her mind for a perfect relationship. She needs a verbal confirmation of his feelings, she's not like him. Damn her physical attraction. She want to be sure that she isn't making a mistake.

Before he could fully tug down her top half of the dress he suddenly stopped as if he had been doused in cold water.

"Bubbles?" His quiet, raspy voice snapped her out of her daze.

"Yes?"

"You're tense." A statement she hadn't realized herself. While indeed she had been all smiles and giggles it just was her cover up mechanism of how really nervous she was. Most people just thought that to be her straight forward nature. She knew that that wasn't true. She was straight forward only when she was oblivious. That wasn't the case here. She initiated this, but she wasn't prepared for it.

She's such a fool.

Feeling self conscious she crossed her arms over her chest, looking away from his searching gaze. "I'm sorry."

Butch righted back the straps of her dress, gently caressing her shoulder. "Don't be. It's my fault anyway." He got out her personal space, letting her sit back at the edge of the bed.

A minute of almost painful awkwardness ensued. He had retreated back to the chair while she dumbly stared at him, not knowing what to say next. Scratch that she knew what she wanted to ask, but her nerves had paralyzed her. Why had it be so hard to express herself to a person she likes? She never had such a problem around him before. Now that she had crossed the threshold of a friend things just felt awkward as hell.

"I'll go, but with one condition." Butch had broken the silence, leaving Bubbles totally confused with his statement. "You accompany me to my training."

Shocked she connected the dots. He meant her art classes, but in exchange she will have to join him on his kickboxing sessions. She didn't really know if she should classify that as a win or not.

A coy smirk spread across his face. "You didn't think that I would accept the offer without anything in return, did you?"

Bubbles frowned. Damn that bastard. "Alright. I accept your offer." She allowed him to marvel in victory for a while. "But first, you're going to take me out on a date and we're going to talk about feelings." Her frown got replaced with a coy smile of her own.

The horrified expression he made after that made her laugh uncontrollably. She said it like a teasing joke, but, really, she meant it.

"That's just cheesy."

"I mean it." This time she said it with more seriousness lacing her voice. "I really like you and I would like for this to work." She blushed like a tomato. Being so painfully honest had always made her feel uncomfortable, especially when she blurted something she should have thought over before hand.

°Unlike her Butch was a lot more composed than her. "I...uh..." Well, maybe his speech wasn't so composed. Had she managed to catch him off guard? He hadn't expected her to say it out loud probably. Surely he knew by now that she liked him. Was he uncomfortable expressing affection in words?

Yes.

She had found out that much during their friendship. She really had no qualms about taking the lead in that aspect and by golly she will do her best to warm him up to the idea as well.

Finally managing to gather back her courage she got up from the bed and sauntered in front of him. Feeling like she usually did around him, the small chit chat had helped a lot with her nerves. She gave him her 'no nonsense' look.

It obviously threw him for a loop. "Like, right now?"

She took his hand and jerked him up from his seat. "Yes. It's still early and before we do anything I want to make a few things clear."

"I never took you for the straight forward type." She could practically feel the smugness rolling off him in waves. "I guess I managed to affect you as well."

Bubbles huffed. She knew that it was true, having confirmed it moments ago herself, but there is no way she's going to admit it. "Whatever. Put your shirt on, so we can leave."

He was still smiling, like he was stuck in a personal joke, which he probably was, but did as she said nonetheless.

While he was searching for his shirt Bubbles fixed her dress and put away his drawing pad. She felt giddy, like she was living in an alternate universe. This really couldn't be happening. Usually Butch put up a bit more of a fight when she wanted to drag him somewhere. He never really confirmed verbally anything to her, but could it be that he wants this as much as she? A actual relationship that is.

"Alright, let's go." He had found his shirt and now had put his arm around her shoulders, guiding her out of his room with a grin.

Hmm...maybe he did. Bubbles responded with a grin of her own.

* * *

 _After this one shot I've realized that I can't really write anything unless I have something I want to convey. I'm not really like other people who write things just for writing I sometimes need some kind of idea I want to tell through a story._

 _So in this chapter I mostly tried to expand on Butch's character and show that we sometimes pick up habits from the people we hang around with. Good or bad, but they still manage to influence us. I was also trying to challenge myself and go further with the lime, but I simply couldn't. Means that I'm not really ready for that yet, but I'll try to work up to it. Hopefully this wasn't rushed or anything. I practically wrote everything up to that in one sitting, after that I kept getting held up. Mostly it's because I had finals myself, but partially also because I was stalling._

 _Anyway, you're free to suggest which pair you would like to see next. Preferably a one I haven't done yet. I personally was thinking about a traditional pair and a pairing around Buttercup, since I haven't written her yet. Then I realized that I would have to write the Greens and I don't want to write Butch three times in a row. In the end I settled onto Brick and Buttercup. Brick is by far the hardest character for me to write, but I want to try it._

 _Thank you for reading._


	5. Drunken Lament (Buttercup Boomer)

_Drunken Lament_

 _Sober enough to know what she's doing. Drunk enough to really enjoy doing it._

* * *

She was hot and sweaty despite the cool summer night. Buttercup had had enough of the party and had decided to head back to Mitch's car. The party was boring and there was absolutely nothing to do, she had had a few drinks and that was enough for her to get that nice buzz going and get the hell out of there.

She had splayed herself on the backseat of Mitch's car enjoying her buzz.

Mitch knew her well enough to know that she would leave the party first, so he had given her the keys of his precious baby. Between the two of them he was the driver. Still Buttercup respected her friend enough to not to drag him away from fun and spoil his night with her bitchy mood. She knew that she turned into a 'I speak my mind no matter what' kind of bitch when she drank enough.

She had been laying in the car for 20 minutes already and the cold was finally starting to get to her, her buzz was slowly wearing off. Huffing she wrung her oversized jacket around her. Maybe she should just go and get Mitch so she can finally get home and sleep. She knew if she falls asleep now she's going to sleep like a bear till noon. Sleeping in a car was really uncomfortable. Then again she doesn't want to bother Mitch. He said himself that when he gets tired of the party that they are going to drive back home. How he managed to have fun in there without consuming alcohol she didn't know, but it would be best if he came back soon.

Buttercup debated with herself for few more minutes. Should she go after him or freeze in the car? Choices, choices. She could be a good friend and wait for him, but her shorts were providing no warmth to her naked legs.

Ah, fuck it! She's getting cold and she's sleepy, Mitch can deal with her mood.

She didn't even get to move a finger when the drivers door opened and someone got in. Finally! Buttercup relaxed back in the seats. She almost lost her resolve there. Lucky for her Mitch decided the perfect time to come back. Except why does it look like Mitch dyed his hair? Did she miss something back at the party?

Feeling fear course through her she sat up. She gripped the edge of the seat. The person in front was motioning around with his hands in a sluggish way. Whoever he was he was drunk out of his mind. Sighing inwardly to herself, she cursed knowing that she'll have to drag a drunk idiot out of Mitch's car and then desensitize everything to not worry Mitch.

The man in front cursed when what she assumed to be his car keys fell on the floor with a jingle and he bent down to pick them up, hitting his head on the steering wheel in the process.

Her eyes widened, recognizing the voice. It wasn't Mitch, but it was some other idiot she didn't want to see. She felt a spike of anger ignite in her. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Her harsh voice startled the blonde man sitting in the driver's seat, making him lose his grip on his keys again. Forgetting his keys he looked all around him, except back, in panic. He was so disoriented that he didn't even realize that he had stepped in the wrong car. Just her luck that the car he decided to step in was the same car she was in. He still hadn't pinpointed the source of the sound. It somehow didn't register to him that he should look back. "Buttercup?"

Ah, damn! He can recognize her voice, but can't figure out that she's sitting behind him. That dumbass has no sense of direction when drunk.

"If you're planning to drive while drunk, in Mitch's car no less, you have an another thing coming." She made her position known by flicking him on the head.

He yelped in pain and clutched his head. He finally decided to turn around. Seeing her scowling face made him smile. "Hey."

Buttercup scowled harder, sending daggers his way. "Get out of the damn car. Mitch won't be happy to see you sitting in his spot." She swatted him on the head again for good measures.

This time Boomer didn't flinch, which only angered her more. He squinted his eyes at her as if trying to see something. "But thish is my car..." he trailed off, his gaze traveling all over her face, "see...here's the keys..." He showed his hand in her face, thinking that his keys were still in his hand.

She pushed his hand away. "You dropped your keys, dumbass."

Ignoring her angry drawls he turned to face the front again. "And here are my..." he cut his jumbled sentence, seemingly lost. He was waving his hand around the rear view mirror, looking for a object that wasn't there. "Where ish it?" He hit the mirror with his hand and that was enough for Buttercup. Mitch is going to be pissed. He loves his car like a girlfriend. Seeing the mirror out of place would be enough to anger him.

She got out of the car and yanked the drivers door open. "Get the fuck out of the car before I do it for you!"

She wasn't particularly pleased with him either. Showing up like this at random. If she didn't know any better she would have thought that he did this on purpose. After their short relationship she cut ties with him, but he still didn't want to leave her. They obviously didn't click, their personalities too different. Dumb fool. She knew well enough that she was too hard on him and that he was way too forgiving for when she blew up on him. It rattled on her nerves even more. Honestly, she loved him, but she just couldn't deal with a guy that acted like such a welcome mat.

He sluggishly turned his attention to her, forgetting about his missing ornament for now. "Huh..."

Buttercup rubbed the bridge of her nose, mentally counting to ten. She's not drunk enough for this. Her patience was almost at its limit and she really doesn't want to hurt him when he is like this. "This is not your car," she shouted, flailing her hands. As an afterthought she added, "You shouldn't be driving anyway, you'll only kill yourself that way."

The innocent, unknowing look he was giving her only managed to piss her off more.

"You're pretty. Did you do somethin'...with...I need to go back home... I'm drunk." He dragged his hands through his hair in a motion that was the smoothest she's seen so far from him in these past few minutes.

Buttercup almost wanted to laugh at the hilarity of this. Stupidly drunk, but sober enough to realize that he's drunk. She sighed instead, reining in her anger, knowing that the only way to achieve what she wants here is if she does it herself. Still something in her told her to keep talking to him. "This isn't your car and your drunk, so you shouldn't be driving anyway."

He suddenly looked at her as if she had declared that the Easter bunny doesn't exist. "But this is my car...you see my he-" He motioned to the rear view mirror again, but cut himself off when he noticed that the thing he was looking for wasn't there. "Where is it?"

Seeing that they were going in circles with this conversation, she decided to just take action and drag him out of the car. Grabbing his hand she pulled, but only managed to nudge his dead weight. Either she was getting weaker or Boomer was more aware of what was going on than he let on. "Get the fuck out! I'm tired of repeating myself." She pulled him again. No success. Fuck.

Boomer grinned back at her, oblivious to her ministrations.

He was obviously resisting. That damn drunk. She growled at his gall to smile at her with his stupidly adorable smile, while she was busting a gut trying to pull his drunk ass out of Mitch's car.

"Hey..." He finally moved, putting his feet out of the car. Buttercup almost screamed in joy at finally getting him to comply. "Can I kiss you?"

Her hold on him slackened. What?

While she was gaping like a fish at him he took her silence as an approval. He grabbed her forearm and pulled her down to his level. He put his other hand at the nape of her neck and planted his lips on her far too smoothly for someone who was piss drunk.

His kiss was sloppy and had way too much saliva involved, but in her hazy mind she found herself responding nonetheless. He lightly nipped at her lips, asking for her to give in to him.

Buttercup chuckled. Oh, she was drunk, but not that drunk.

The position they were in was really uncomfortable for her back and neck. Seeing as Boomer wasn't in the mood to let her go she forcefully untangled herself from his grasp. He whined at the loss of contact. Buttercup smirked and pulled him out of the car with a yelp. The sudden movement disoriented him, making his dead weight fall on her. She just barely held on from falling over. She might have miscalculated that.

She held him straight for a minute. He was being oddly quiet and motionless, his arms draped over her shoulders and face next to hers. God, he reeked of tequila.

"Oi! You still here." She shook him lightly. If he passed out on her she's going to drop him. Fuck feelings and everything else.

She was about to drop him when he perked up. He turned his head slightly towards her, the side of his face pressing against her cheek. She could feel him smile and press a soft peck on her cheek. She had no idea what he was doing, but it felt oddly satisfying. He always managed to catch her off guard with sweet sentiments like that. It was amazing that he still did when inebriated.

Buttercup finally gave in and grinned back even if he couldn't see it. He was such an idiot when drunk. She just couldn't stay mad at him when he was acting like this. Still he was heavy and as much as she prided herself being the strongest of her sisters, frankly she couldn't hold up his weight all night. She slammed his back against the side of Mitch's car and in a fit of impulsive madness met his lips in an open mouthed kiss. She heard Boomer growl in satisfaction. This time she took the lead, taking advantage of his more drunker composure to overpower him.

The smug statement before about her not being that drunk flew out the window. Who was she kidding? Of course she was intoxicated and obviously enough to enjoy tonsil hockey with this blonde fool. Her thoughts were a blurred mess. All she could register were her hands in his disheveled hair and his sliding up under her shirt.

He broke their kiss to take a small breath before he descended back on her lips, his movements more skilled than she expected them to be in his state. Buttercup couldn't help but let a small moan escape her. He left her lips again, but this time peppering small kisses all over her face in movements that were more sensual than lustful. She felt warmth spread through her at his sweet sentiment.

She didn't know what to make of him. Had she made the right choice when she left him? Was she a bitch for doing so? Boomer had always been so pure and trusting towards her, his touch gentle, his kisses sensual. He was too good to her. Was that the reason why she left him? Honestly, she was so lost in pleasure and alcohol that she couldn't remember.

He stopped his ministrations and looked her in the eye, their breaths intermingling. She could see in his eyes, through the haziness of alcohol, the love he had for her, the want, the raw need. What had she done to deserve someone like him? She was always too mean to him, too rough. She loved him so much. She didn't want to hurt him. His feelings were always so pure. How could she taint that with her rotten attitude? She was like a drop of tar in a barrel of honey. She was self aware enough to realize that not always she managed to bring out the best in people like he could. That's just who she was - a roughhousing girl with a large mouth.

"Buttercup?" His voice was barely a whisper. "Please don't leave me."

She almost choked in tears at his broken plea. Here he was piss drunk, disheveled and begging to her. Had she done this to him? God, even when she wanted to do what was the best for others she only made herself look like a bigger jerk.

Shaking her head, she hugged him, nuzzling her face in the crook of his neck. "I...don't..." She didn't know what to say. She didn't deserve a man like him, yet here he was begging for her to come back. She chuckled bitterly at the back of her mind at this situation. He was such a lovesick fool and she was the idiot that probably will accept his plea.

Boomer hugged her back, squeezing her smaller form to his, inhaling the scent of her hair. He could hold her like this forever if she let him.

"What the fuck!"

The sudden shout made Buttercup stumble back from Boomer. The open door of the car was slammed shut. Mitch stood in front of them in all his glory. "I 'ain't giving lifts to your fuck buddies." He pointed a finger towards Boomer, throwing an extra glare his way for good measure.

This sobered her up quick. What the hell was his problem? "It's not like that, Mitch," she bit back. Her anger spiking back up. She cast a quick wary gaze towards Boomer before continuing. "In fact I don't need a ride from you anymore." She linked her hands with Boomer and dragged him away, opting to rather spend more time with Boomer than Mitch's protests.

"Fine with me," he bellowed back. The slam of a car door and a start of the engine before he drove off were the last things she heard from Mitch. She loved him like a brother, but sometimes he could be as mean spirited as her. Maybe that's why they were such good friends. Nonetheless he took the whole situation out of context. They were just hugging...okay they were making out before, but that doesn't mean that he can spout such nonsense like that.

Buttercup dragged Boomer around the parking lot for a while. Only after ten minutes it occurred to her that she had no idea where she was leading them. Boomer wasn't saying anything, just stumbling along with her. Then she remembered that this whole situation happened only because Boomer mistook Mitch's car for his.

"Hey, Boom?" He perked up at her voice. "Where did you leave your car?"

He stared at her for a minute like she had grown a second head before drawling with a goofy smile, "I don't have a car."

That son of a bitch!

* * *

 _When writing like half of this I had no idea what I was doing xD Writing Buttercup was so easy and here I was struggling writing Bubbles for the past three chapters, while Buttercup was the way to go. Heh, probably because Buttercup is the puff that is the most like me and Bubbles the least._

 _Also drunk Boomer is perplexing. One moment he thinks he's in Candyland the next he's pulling out his moves on Buttercup._

 _Welp, I hope that you guys enjoyed this. These two are fun to write, and since my review box has been quiet I already decided that the next one-shot is going to be Reds. I want to write some traditional parings again. It's a classic. I also decided to make my one-shots less serious and focus more on point. My downfall was the fact that I was writing around shit that wasn't really that integral to the plot._

 _Thanks for reading._


	6. Danger Zone (Reds)

_A huge thanks to Miss Nay for her review. When I got it it made me smile like a fool. I totally agree with what you said._

 _Music of this chapter: Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins_

 _There's a thin line between love and hate._

* * *

Blossom sighed and smiled sinking further in her beach chair. She had a long week at work and a nice relaxing afternoon near the ocean with a good book in her hand was the perfect mix. It was just enough for her to forget her latest failure at work. The sun warmed her body pleasantly from where it wasn't covered by the parasol shade and the slight breeze supplied her enough with the salty smell of the ocean. She was in her own tranquil world, not even hearing other people around her.

The puff shifted a bit in her seat to readjust her red bikini bottoms. That was also the moment when the loud, obnoxious laughing a few meters from her was brought to her attention. Now she knew that once she heard it tuning that out will be impossible.

Lowering her book from her face she took a peak at the owner of those shrill laughs. Blossom's features hardened. The girl was no one she knew and from the looks of her scantly bikini no one she wanted to know, but the guy she was talking to was someone she didn't want to see at all. If she could wipe someone off the planet he would be it. That arrogant prick made her blood boil.

Blossom rolled her eyes and decided that right now he wasn't worth her time. She's here to relax and forget everything work related and arrogant prick related. Just pretend that he isn't there.

The pink puff resumed her reading, but with the girl's laughs and now Prick's grating voice in the background she found herself reading the same line over and over. Clenching her teeth to hold her temper, she pushed herself to listen to the screams of children around them and the woosh of the waves.

"... _I recently got promoted..."_ Those four words somehow managed to reach her ears, despite her efforts.

Now that's it! He's even bragging about it while trying to pick up chicks? Wasn't her humiliation in front of their colleagues enough? That jerkface! Blossom nearly chucked her book across the beach. The nerve of him.

Not feeling in the mood for reading anymore Blossom put her book in her beach bag and pulled out her phone and some earbuds. She doesn't have to listen to this, but she isn't going to move either in case he isn't aware that she's here as well. It's better to pretend to be invisible around him. Plugging in her earbuds, she put on her favourite jazz playlist and closed her eyes. She won't let that poor excuse of a human being ruin her day at the beach.

Blossom couldn't help but seethe. Here she was trying to forget all about that dreadful day, but the main character of her bad day had decided to show up and foil her plans once again. She worked her ass off for that promotion. She had everything planned out and ready only to find out that her _lovely_ colleague had compromised all of her work, making her look like a dirt eating idiot in front of everyone. He had gotten her promotion with a simple Powerpoint presentation all because she hadn't lived up to the CEO's expectations.

Blossom bit her lip, that day's events playing out in her mind.

She was furious at him. Scratch that, she was so angry that she was seeing red. It would have pleasured her greatly to scratch his stupid red eyes out at that moment. All it had taken was a smug glance her way for her to storm out and head back to her apartment. She hated to admit it, but that evening she cried her guts out.

For all she cared Brick could waltz his way down to hell.

Gripping her towel, she pushed herself to just forget about it now, before she starts crying again.

For ten minutes she fell in a lull, the sweet sounds of a piano dimming her thoughts. She got a rude awakening when she felt a tap on her foot. Sluggishly opening her eyes she met the strikingly red ones of her troubles. Pretending that she didn't see that she closed her eyes again. Hopefully if she pretends that he's invisible he'll leave her alone.

"Now don't pretend that you can't see me, Blossom." His nicely raspy voice was closer to her than she expected. Wait! When has ever his voice been raspy and why is it so nice sounding? Curses. Why is she thinking this? And why the hell is he invading her personal space?

Struggling to keep her eyes closed, Blossom ignored him. She's in no mood to talk to him. He's an ass that doesn't deserve her attention.

"C'mon, Bloss. I just wanna talk." She felt another poke, this time in her side. She flinched slightly and crossed her arms across her stomach. She was starting to feel uncomfortable. She could feel his presence on her left side, heck she could practically feel the wind from his movements.

Why the hell won't he leave her alone? The last thing she wants to do is listen to his gloating.

She felt him huff and, what she could only assume to be, sit on the sand. "Don't act like a child. I'm not going to hurt you."

Blossom felt a spark of anger ignite in her. Hurt her? She balled her hands. The urge to chuck him in the face was overwhelming. He already hurt her. He humiliated her, he ruined her reputation, he destroyed her frickin' career. He was way past hurting her.

Not having the patience anymore to listen to his bullshit, she opened her eyes and sat up. "Fuck you, Brick." Picking up her stuff, she got off the chair and, not even sparing a glance in the Prick's direction, she walked away.

She heard him grunt in annoyance before he shouted after her. "Wait, Blossom!" He caught up to her in no time, stopping her in her tracks by grabbing her by her arm.

Forcefully jerking her hand out of his grasp, Blossom glared his way. "I have nothing to talk about with you. Just leave me alone."

Brick didn't let her get a step further before he stopped her again. "Just hear me out. I know I was a dick and I want to apologise here."

A flare of anger coursed through her. "Gee, what changed your mind? You've been a dick to me for months now."

The ruff rolled his eyes. "Don't be a hypocrite. You've bitched at me for the same amount of time. I'm just being a better person here by saying that I'm sorry."

Unbelievable! Blossom grit her teeth. Even when he's supposedly apologising he insults her. "I'm done. Eat a dick and don't talk to me," she all but screamed. Not wanting to listen to him anymore, she pivoted on her heel and walked away, ignoring the curious looks of people around them.

A faint grin passed his face at her cussing before he got serious again. "I resigned from the position," he shouted at her retreating back.

Blossom briefly paused in her step. Quite an odd choice from him, but it didn't matter anymore. She resumed her pace.

"And I submitted your original presentation, speech and everything to the CEO."

That made her stop completely. What the hell is he up to? She marched back to him, not sparing any glares his way. "I. Don't. Care." She pronounced each word just to get her point across. At the confused look on Brick's face she continued. "I already sent in my resignation letter, so it doesn't matter what you do I'm not coming back."

"But why?"

His, oh so innocent, question made her eye twitch. The stupid look on his face didn't help the case at all. "Oh, I don't know. How about the fact that you humiliated me, ruined my reputation and made me look like an idiot? I can never show my face back there again."

The guilty expression on his face made her want to punch him so bad. How hilarious, he has the gall to feel guilty now, after the deed is done.

Lacking the willpower to hold in her anger she slapped him instead. A hard slap that made his face turn and bring the attention of the people around them. She was pleased to see that the slap left a huge red mark on his left cheek.

Brick didn't even look surprised, she had to give him that. "I probably deserved that."

Blossom rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. He deserves more than that, but for now it'll be enough. People are already watching and she doesn't want to make a scene.

Brick assessed the damage to his jaw by rubbing it. "Look, Blossom..." He abruptly cut himself off and threw a glance all around them. After the slap people were now curiously eyeing them. The ruff scoffed at the drama hungry people. He roughly grabbed Blossom's arm and dragged her away from curious eyes.

The puff didn't protest his decision and followed him behind a changing cabin. She really didn't want anything to do with him and just walk away, but something compelled her to listen to him nonetheless. The damage was already done and nothing he says to her will fix it. Heck, if she gets a chance to chuck him in the face again, she'll take it.

He pushed her against the wooden wall of the cabin. Blossom wanted to give him a piece of her mind about his rough housing of her, but he beat her to it. "I know I stepped over a line there, but I didn't mean to really." He took a deep breath before continuing. "The last stunt you pulled on me really got to me and I wanted revenge."

Blossom snorted and rolled her eyes, forgetting for now about his rude gestures. She'd done worse to him than what she did last week. Doubling his work load for a day was the mildest thing she could do. "Liar," she bit out and scowled at him, meeting his piercing gaze dead on.

She saw anger spark in his eyes. "Fine. Believe what you want, but I still apologise for what I did."

The puff shook her head. She has better things to do than to listen to his dirty lies, like sending in her CV to some other companies. They've been at each others throats for months now, but none of the times they had gotten the other humiliated in front of their boss and so severely. Honestly, she never even expected that he would apologise, she had to give him that. Still it doesn't change the fact that he acted like a jerk for no reason.

"I have better things to do." She tried to walk past him, but he cut off her route by slamming her back against the wall.

"Fine," he growled, invading her personal space. He leaned so close to her that she spotted a faint dust of freckles across the bridge of his nose. "You want the truth?" She could feel his hot breath fanning against her cheek. What the hell is he trying to pull?

Blossom straightened her posture and met his furious gaze, her answer clear on her face, ignoring how rapidly her hear thrummed against her rib cage.

He tilted even closer to her, past her face. A shot of surprise coursed through her, when she felt his lips faintly touch her ear. "You're fucking hot when you're pissed." She trembled, her anger flying out the window from the shock of his admission. He had her caged against the wall, both his arms near her head. "And it gets me hard when we argue." She felt him lightly nip her ear with his teeth.

A jolt of electricity flowed all the way down to her feet, her mouth was suddenly dry and her knees felt like jelly. What was he doing to her? What kind of sick joke was this? She bit down her bad thoughts and focused back on hating him with every fiber of her being. He won't get out of this so easily, that douche nozzle. But her train of thought got cut off when he breathed in her ear.

"Do you know how many times you gave me blue balls just this month alone?" he growled, his voice lower than before. She could feel his left hand shift from it's position beside her head to the nape of her loose ponytail.

Blossom swallowed, hard, closing her eyes. She needs to get a grip on this. What's wrong with her? How could this turn from an argument to this so quickly? She never even realized that Brick had been tormenting her for his own pleasure. She had considered it, but shook it off.

"You're a fuckin' tease, Blossom. You know that?" He shifted his face to nibble at her jawline, trailing his way up her face, his hand keeping her head in place. He pinned her body to the wall with his. "Red looks good on you," he mumbled between small butterfly kisses.

She trembled, a pleasant tingle racing down her spine, desire spreading through her. She could feel him, the hard planes of his body, the effect she had on him. This was a position she never expected to end up with Brick. Her body was hot, her whole face was probably red by now from such a full frontal assault. She should shove him away, she should scream at him, but her muscles didn't listen to her.

Goddammit!

When she first saw him a year ago she had admitted to herself that he was attractive. Those blazing red eyes and mess of red hair had caught her attention, but months later when he, out of the blue, stood up against her by countering her every argument, she didn't see him as good looking anymore. He turned into that prick that liked to challenge her every word and play devil's advocate, even going as far as turning her team of colleagues against her at some point. He was simply annoying and was the cause of her stress.

So why? Why does she suddenly find herself being responsive to the kiss he just planted on her lips?

She lost her grasp on her beach bag and it unceremoniously dropped in the sand. Her hands found their way around his neck. She felt his other hand, that wasn't holding her head in place, snake around her waist. She gasped slightly when he hooked his thumb on her red bikini bottoms. He smirked at her gasp and traced his tongue across her lower lip, nibbling it gently. With no effort his tongue slipped past her parted lips and explored every corner of her mouth.

Nothing made sense to her anymore. She was lost. Lost in the grinding movement she had with him.

She let her hands trail down his back. She had been too angry before to pay any attention to his half naked form or really see anything other than his annoying-ass smirk. Now that she had her hands on him, she wasn't planning to let go until she touched every spot she could reach.

She stopped her descent of her hands right above the waistband of his swim trunks before she circled around to his front. She took pleasure in feeling him flinch slightly from the contact.

While Blossom explored his body Brick dragged his other hand down to her breast, squeezing the soft flesh lightly. He was rewarded with a wanton moan from the puff. Fueled by her responsiveness he sucked on her tongue, flicking her hardened nipple with his thumb through the thin material of her bikini top.

A heady moan passed through her lips at the contact. He was managing to unwind her with just his hands alone. At this point she didn't even care about what he had done. All she wanted was for him to soothe the itch that he had created within her. Her needy hands found their way into his hair, loosening his ponytail.

Feeling brave Brick kissed down to her collarbone, his other hand leaving the waistband of her bikini. He trailed a single finger across her clothed slit. He grinned when he felt her jerk. "You're so wet."

Blossom wanted to bite back a retort his way, but held her tongue in fear that her voice would come out all breathy and needy. She's not going to give him the pleasure of hearing that. Instead she wanted his mouth back on her lips, but her thought process got interrupted when she heard voices. It jolted her back to reality.

They were still on the beach – in a public place.

The puff blushed. This was so wrong.

She ceased her grinding against him and grabbed him by the ponytail, moving his face back to her eye level. She met his hazy red eyes head on, unconsciously enjoying that she had been the cause for his lack of awareness.

"I'm not having sex with you in a public place." She surprised herself with how throaty her voice sounded. She hadn't been so overcome with need ever since she had been with her ex. Damn, it has been so long that she isn't even ashamed to seek release from her enemy.

The red ruff chuckled. "I don't care." He was about to lean back into the valley of her breasts before she stopped him by pulling on his short ponytail again.

"But I do." This time she was proud to say that she managed to make her voice sound firm and convincing. Aroused or not, she isn't about to put on a show for all Townsville to see.

Brick rested both of his hands on her hips, nuzzling the juncture of her neck and shoulder. "So rough, so needy," he whispered against her skin, kissing her skin briefly.

"I'm serious, Brick." To get her point across she raised her voice and removed her hands from his body completely.

The ruff sighed and stepped back from her. "Fine. We'll go to my place, it's closer." He threw her a 'are you happy now?' look before picking up her forgotten beach bag and grabbing her hand to lead the way.

She didn't resist, letting him pull her to his car. On the way there she couldn't stop herself from throwing out a hearty laugh, which earned her an odd glance from Brick. She ignored it. This certainly wasn't how she expected for her day to end. She still was furious at Brick and wanted to damn him to the seventh layer of hell, but she just couldn't stop thinking about all the wonderful things he did to her with his mouth and the possibilities of something more.

All this happened only because she got weak knees from his very mild dirty talk. It's so stupid, yet she can't resist and deny that she doesn't want it. Who knew that there was such a thin line between anger and lust.

* * *

 _I feel so dirty *douses self in holy water*. I didn't even write anything that raunchy (though this will get a M rating from now on). Still I like pushing my limits and practice writing scenes I'm bad with. This whole one-shot series has been like a writing practice to me. I'll admit that I've had forgotten how fun it was to write the two reds - the mind games are strong with them.  
_

 _So after this there are only three possible pairings left that I haven't written yet - Greens, Buttercup/Brick and Blossom/Boomer. Just tell me which you want to see next from me and when I'll get inspiration I'll whip something up. Though I'll admit that I already have an idea that I would like to explore with the greens, get in some practice with writing more scenes I'm bad at._

 _Thanks for reading and happy new year._


	7. They All Fall Down (Reds) pt2

_Part two of the last chapter._

 _I honestly hadn't intended for it to end on a cliffhanger like that (I suppose that it was a cliffhanger, since nothing really got resolved, only set up). At first I had no idea what you guys wanted from me when you said that you want a continuation, like unless it's porn I have no idea where to go with it xD then I thought about it more and this ended up being the result. I didn't want to be a tease either, so I knew that I have to continue this while it's still fresh in my mind, if I moved on I might have just forgotten about this one.  
_

 _Music for this chapter: They All Fall Down by SR-71_

* * *

Shame. She was ashamed of herself and felt like the most pathetic human being on earth. She couldn't believe herself. She couldn't believe that she actually slept with that annoying prick. Was she really so desperate for some action that she would lower herself to such actions? Apparently yes and it was driving her nuts. Worse part yet was that she couldn't deny and say that she had a horrible time, it was the exact opposite.

Growling low in her throat Blossom slumped down in her chair and scrolled through a site of job vacancies on her laptop. Ever since yesterday all she had been doing is send out e-mails of her CV and motivation letters to a potential employer. Losing her job sucked, even if she did resign willingly. She had been working there for two solid years and had a plan of what she wanted to do until that asshole ruined it.

She still couldn't believe that she slept with him, not once, but three times that day. After the first time she was about ready to run, realizing her mistake, but he somehow managed to coax her, make her beg for more. She feels so dirty just by remembering it.

Letting out a low whine she picked up the rum bottle she had left on the kitchen table and took a swig. It really was pathetic. She had resorted to alcohol to try and forget her misery. Worst part – it wasn't working. The rum bottle Buttercup had left at her apartment last Halloween wasn't strong enough, it didn't have that burn she was looking for, but going out for something stronger didn't seem like a great option either.

She was a mess.

After she had ran out on him in the middle of the night she had come back to her apartment and showered. She had been tired and in a daze. In the back of her mind she still couldn't believe what had transpired. She had fallen asleep sometime between their cuddling, not really cuddling (there's no way in hell she's going to call it cuddling). She had woken up in the middle of the night only to freak out, peel herself away from him and quietly slip out of his place. In the end she had fallen asleep again on her own bed, her pondering about her life lulling her to sleep.

She took one last swig from the bottle and put the empty bottle back in it's place. She eyed her laptop, clear anger on her face. She had spent the better part of her morning just checking her e-mail for replies or any kind of updates and nothing yet. Before going to the beach yesterday she had sent out at least a dozen job applications, at least one of them could reply to her. It was making her uneasy knowing that she was unemployed, and the longer it lasted the less extra funds she's going to have.

Urgh! It was all that pricks fault. He just had to mess with her life. She couldn't get him out of her mind either – his stupid face, his wonderfully toned body, the way he moved and the amazing thing he did with his-

Nope! Not happening.

She jumped up from her seat and walked to the fridge. She must have something alcoholic in her fridge, something stronger than rum, something that'll muddle her thoughts and get the vivid images out of her mind. Pushing aside a carton of eggs and a piece of cheese she concluded that her fridge was woefully empty.

Drawing her lips in a flat line Blossom walked back to her laptop. Maybe checking her e-mail again might help.

Her breath hitched. She had a new e-mail. Her eyes narrowed when she noticed that it was from her previous boss. She didn't know what to expect. What would he want from her? She already resigned. Opening it she let her eyes skim over the text. Once done she slammed her laptop shut.

Unbelievable.

She's going to need that extra strong liquor now. Running to her room she put on something presentable, grabbed her wallet and keys and ran out of her apartment in a straight beeline to the liquor store.

Not only is Brick driving her nuts he's turning her into an alcoholic as well. Just peachy.

* * *

A month had passed and after losing her job, having a one night stand with her enemy and drowning herself in liquor Blossom had managed to pull herself together. She had gotten an interview with one of the most prestige companies in Townsville. The recommendation letter from her previous boss combined with her skills and experience had helped her score a job as a logistics manager in no time.

Everything was starting to fall back into place and the prick was a thing of her past. She hadn't seen him since and was eternally grateful for that.

So here she was now having an another regular day at the office, doing what she does best.

"Blossom?" Her thought process got cut off by one of her co-workers Tiffany. She indicated with a wave of her hand for her to continue. "Alex said that we're going to need extra 5 copies of those fire safety manuals and I don't have the time to copy them. Could you, by any chance do it? Please?"

She eyed the blonde woman from her spot at her table, she looked tired and worn out, bags under her eyes. Blossom sighed. "Alright. I'll get them." She was free anyway for the moment. Besides it's the least she could do for the overworked woman, last she heard she had been going through some tough family matters.

She only heard Tiffany thank her and leave her office. Blossom finished up whatever she was doing before, and pulled out the manual from her drawer. Getting new employees sometimes sucked. They had to be taught so many things and informed of all the rules and regulations, which got tiring after the third time.

On her way to the copy slash storage room she got stopped by some couple other people, saying her greetings she continued her way towards the room, until a flash of red caught her eye. She had to do a double take.

No frickin' way!

There waltzing his way over to the head manager's office was Brick. Dumbstruck Blossom just watched him enter the office.

What the hell was he doing here? Not wanting to wait to find out she ran the rest of the way to the copy room. She could only hope that he hadn't seen her and that he'll be gone by the time she's done with the copies. Better question was; how did he even find her? Was he even looking for her? Her rational part told her no, that Brick had no reason to look for her. Maybe he was just here for a job opening...the thought made her shudder. She so does not want to work with him in the same place again.

That night they had parted with no parting words and undoubtedly talking to him might make things awkward. She didn't do one night stands, thus didn't know the correct rules for them, but she did now that with the way she had left could be considered dickish if not cowardly, though it was the best way to avoid the dreaded morning confrontation.

Blossom generally avoided thinking about this subject and Brick too much 'cause it was hard to forget the things they had done in their night together, the side of him he had showed to her and how much she adored that sweet and understanding side of him. It angered her and Blossom hated being angry.

She had realized early on that Brick was a peculiar person. There weren't many people around who could keep up with her working habits or match her on an intellectual level and she had been glad to finally find a person she could converse with. That's why it irritated her on some level when Brick kept causing problems, ignoring workplace ethic and getting on the bad side of everyone. She could look past a persons flaws and accept them for who they were, but it almost seemed like Brick was doing anything in his powers to make everyone hate him and she couldn't figure out why. He really wanted to see the world burn, she mused. Why else any other sane person would want to ruin everything they touched?

Not wanting to think about this anymore she started the copy machine and went on with the manual copying. It's better to get this over with, so she can have her lunch break. She let her thoughts drift off, focusing on things she had to get done by today and not their last time together and how nice he had been. Nope.

She was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't hear the door click shut and footsteps coming towards her. When the person touched her shoulder she nearly jumped out of her skin. Turning around she was about to talk the person's ear off, but she held her tongue when she noticed who it was. Speechless she just stared at his smiling face.

"Well, hello to you too, Blossom. How nice to run into you." The drawl of his voice snapped her out of her daze.

A hard look settled on her face, pink eyes ablaze. "What are you doing here, Brick?" She crossed her arms across her chest noting with distaste that for someone who used to wear caps and flannel shirts to work he could clean up quite nicely. The black suit with the red tie looked pretty good, she hated to admit.

"I came here for a job interview what else?" He eyed her incredulously, obviously mocking her. "In fact your boss seemed pretty pleased with my résumé. I might just be your next branch manager."

She drew her lips in a flat line. He's been here for less than a minute and he already was testing her patience, bragging to her. She was well aware that the branch manager was retiring and looking for a replacement, she just didn't understand why he couldn't promote someone to that position like her, for example. Not that she was greedy, but she knew that she deserved that spot and if presented to her she would take it. God, she hoped that Brick didn't get that position. That would be a new layer of hell for her.

"How did you find me?" She supposed that once he entered the main office that he had actually seen her, but finding her in the copy room, which wasn't so easy to find unless you knew where you were going was pretty difficult. Unless he wandered around the place like an idiot. That thought made her smile inwardly.

"That cute blonde with ringlets told me where you went."

Tiffany. That traitorous bitch! She even offered to copy the manuals for her. Last time she does any favours for her.

Blossom sighed, rubbing her temples. Thank God it wasn't at least awkward between them after their night together, but it sure as hell was annoying. She should have known better that the first emotion Brick is able to draw from her is irritation.."What do you want from me, Brick?"

His smirk dropped from his face, leaving a glare and a scowl in its place. "Nothing."

Levelling his glare with her own the puff leaned against the copy machine. She dully noted that the copy machine had stopped and she had to flip the page of the manual to continue copying. "Then I'll repeat: why are you here?" She honestly had no clue what his issue with her was right now. For a month they had successfully avoided each other and had continued on with their lives and now out, of the blue, he had decided to seek her out. Surely it wasn't only because he wanted to gloat to her.

"To tell you that I wasn't lying back then. I know you thought I was, but I wasn't."

The hard look dropped from her face. She could faintly feel a heat settling on her face. This brought back her memories of their conversation before he dragged her off to his flat and how the morning after she had received an e-mail that had confirmed Brick's words. Her previous boss had been quite devastated at losing two of his best employees at the same day. She honestly couldn't believe that he actually had quit. Part of her was confused at his course of action, the other part was afraid to think what that entailed.

Blossom bit back the blush. "I know." Still it didn't explain why he came to her a month later, telling her things he already told her, albeit he had been right on her not believing it at first. Still his excuse felt weak. She patiently waited for him to say something else.

Her response hadn't surprised him, but her quiet unnerved him. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, letting his stance slouch a bit.

She eyed him with a calculating stare, trying to keep her gaze on his eyes and not stray towards his lips. It was a night she was trying to forget, cleanse herself from him and move on. But now with him here, it was hard for her not to stare, memories from that night absently passing through her mind. At that point she felt disgusted with herself. She didn't miss the tension that was between them as well. The air was high strung, neither of them dared to back down from their staring match.

"Well?" The puff finally grew tired of the silence and the tension. He better start explaining his reason for being here and forego the bullshit this time. His presence was throwing her emotions in a turmoil, making her hands clam up. She hated it – hated how he seamlessly made her lose control of herself, make her hormonal and angry.

The next few moments threw the puff for a loop. Instead of getting up in her face with something that would annoy her Brick had walked away from her and taken a seat on the old couch that had been stuffed in the corner. He rested his elbows on his knees and his his head in his arms, messing up his neatly made ponytail.

Blossom was dumbstruck, his actions had been so uncharacteristic that she didn't know how to respond or what, for that matter, even happened. Was he upset or something?

Suddenly he mumbled something, but the words were too muffled for her to catch anything. "What?" She moved closer to him. Upon closer inspection she saw that he had sat down to hide his red face in his hands. He was embarrassed, which came as a surprise to the puff.

"I can't get you out of my head," he repeated, a bit louder this time.

"Oh..." Blossom felt a blush of her own settle on her face. She hadn't expected such honesty from him.

"And it's annoying as fuck."

Blossom sighed, feeling irritation replace her momentary embarrassment. It sounded like he was blaming her for his plight. Damn asshole. She balled her hands and had to physically restrain herself from hitting him. God, he made her so violent. "I digress, you're the annoying one." Still she could kind of sympathise with him – she had a hard time forgetting him as well. Doesn't mean she's going to admit it out loud.

He ignored her, opting to stare at the floor instead, wringing his hands together.

Blossom clicked her tongue. Was he ignoring her on purpose? She wouldn't put it past him to create a new way to annoy her on the fly. Still there was something about his posture and wrung facial expression that told her that he wasn't playing around anymore. He really was bothered by this. The puff relaxed a bit, dropping her hands at her sides. It was so odd seeing him look so down. She was so used to seeing that overly confident look on his face that bordered on smug.

Suddenly Brick leaned back in his seat, giving her a tired look. "Truthfully speaking I don't know what I'm doing anymore. You messed me up."

The pink puff rolled her eyes. "Oh, cry me a river. Don't blame me for your mistakes." Just because he put up that kicked puppy face she wasn't going to play gently with him. Frankly he had been a problem for her as well. While she could forget about him her subconscious couldn't. The amount of times he had invaded her dreams was way too much, and not in the innocent way either. But it wasn't enough for her to seek him out and bitch like he was doing right now.

Brick suddenly shot up from the couch, furious. "Why do you always have to act like such a bitch?" He loomed over her, using his height advantage to glare her down, hands balled in fists.

He didn't scare her, but she did feel her eye twitch from irritation. "I guess your presence just brings out the worst in me." They glared at each other like that for a minute, not saying a word. In reality he brought all kinds of emotions out of her, half of which she didn't want to acknowledge she had. She just knew that getting involved with this man wouldn't end well for her. She already made enough mistakes with her ex.

Brick's heated gaze momentary slid down to her lips and that was the warning she got before he pulled her closer by the waist and kissed her.

Surprised she had stilled in his grasp. She tried to push him away, but when he not so subtly bit on her bottom lip she gave in, dissatisfied with herself for having so little self control. In almost practised movements she warped her hands around his neck deepening their kiss. She hummed in approval when their tongues intertwined. In the back of her mind she was screaming for herself to pull away, slap him senseless and just walk away, but she couldn't – it felt too right, too perfect.

He smiled against her lips, dragging her down with him on the couch. Blossom squeaked in protest when he tried to position her in an uncomfortable position. She was wearing a pencil skirt, there's no way in hell she'll be able to straddle him in that. Instead she glowered at him and settled herself sideways on his lap, smacking him on the shoulder at his self satisfied smirk.

"Stop it!"

He chuckled. "I never thought that you would be so cooperative. I thought you didn't like me."

Blossom rolled her eyes in return. "Just shut up and kiss me." She pulled him by his tie back into their lip lock, savouring the dim taste of coffee on him. She hated to exercise the thought of liking him, mostly because it was true and because it made her bitter when thinking about it. For now all she cared about was to release her pent up sexual frustration. Pathetic, but she couldn't deny what she was feeling.

Shamelessly he warped one hand tighter around her waist and with the other fondled her tit. The puff jumped in surprise from his ministrations, breaking their kiss and sending him a deadpan stare.

"What? You have great tits."

Blossom chuckled lowly and hid her red face in his hair. He had said something similar back then as well.

Brick ceased his ministrations to instead place soft butterfly kisses to her exposed neck and rub small circles into her clothed sides.

"Aren't we going to talk abut this?" As much as she wanted to forget, to push him away, she realized that she couldn't. He had caught her attention and, despite his flaws, she couldn't let a man like him pass through her fingers. It felt right when they were together. Sometimes it felt like they were made for each other. The puff shuddered when he placed a few kisses on her collarbone.

"What's there to talk about?"

She pushed herself off him, putting some distance between them. "Like, what the heck we are doing?"

"Making out," he supplied, like it was obvious.

"That's not what I meant." Blossom sighed, letting her fingers of her left hand play with the loose hairs from his short ponytail. Apart from the furious hate they clearly felt something else for each other as well. If it had been just lust it would have passed already. She didn't feel like it was just lust – it was more. "What are we to each other?"

Brick groaned and pulled her side back flush against him. "Don't pull labels into this. Just enjoy the moment." He tugged her face closer to his and kissed her sensually, taking it slow on purpose.

Blossom didn't let it last long before she broke away from him again. "I'm serious, Brick. I'm not going to have a fling with you." It hurt her to think that after what he just proclaimed to her that all he felt for her was sexual attraction. Was she looking too much into things?

The ruff opened his mouth to respond, but got cut off by a ringing phone. He shuffled a bit in his place before pulling out his phone from his pants' pocket. He looked at the caller ID and grimaced before denying the call and putting his phone back in it's place. "Well, Blossom, it's been fun, but I have to go. Things to do." He quickly pecked her lips and sat her down on the sofa.

Blossom growled at his blatant avoidance of the question. She isn't going to let him leave like this. He came here, he started this and he better end it the right way. By all means she had been done with him, but he just had to come back and pull her back in. Hah! She once again remembered why she hated him in the first place. He was a prick that only thought about himself.

She latched onto his hand before he could go anywhere. She glowered. "I'm not letting you leave until we sort this out."

Brick sunk back on the couch in defeat. He prudently stared at the over stacked shelve from across them for a couple of minutes. "Alright. How about you just come by my place and we'll sort this out later? I really don't have time for this anymore." He tried to get back up from the couch again, but Blossom pulled him back down.

"No! I'm serious. I'm not sleeping with you if you don't come clean to me."

"Look, I am serious and currently I don't have the time to discuss this. I promise we'll sort this out, but just not now. I'm already late."

Blossom huffed and let him go. "You better not be lying."

He parted with a smug grin and a wave.

By that point Blossom didn't know what to think anymore. They obviously wanted each other, despite how much they played each others nerves. She just wasn't sure in what way he wanted her. He did say that he couldn't get her out of his head. Could it, possibly, mean that he loved her? No, love is a strong word. Like. Yes, like her. Though she didn't want to assume things and draw conclusions prematurely.

After five minutes of silence with her thoughts and how complicated this all just got she had to wonder if he was worth her troubles at all. She might just be better off hating him and leave it be. Still she wasn't one to give up early. If she started something she's bound to go through with it all the way. It wouldn't hurt to try and have a relationship with him, right?

She hoped not.

* * *

 _God, I'm so sorry for being such an incompetent fuck and not knowing how to finish this. I really wanted to put an end to this with this chapter, but this thing just got a mind of its own somewhere along the way and it looks like it should be longer. I honestly had no idea what I was doing when I was writing, so I hope that it makes some sense, then again feelings hardly ever make sense. I just want to move on from this one. T_T It got too touchy feely and I can't handle it properly. I really want to write greens next, so I'll probably do that, unless I get barraged by you guys that I should stop bitching and just finish this one.  
_


	8. Enemies (Blossom Butch)

_What's this? An early update from Rhea? Oh, you know it._

 _Sorry that I lied last chapter, but for the sake of updating this rarely updated one-shot stock I took the chance to fix up one of my older one-shots and since it was my favorite pair it was super easy to do so. I just kind of feel bad for leaving this story alone for so many months on end that I decided to give you guys a treat of an early update. It's also crazy how much my writing style has changed in two years. This one-shot alone went from 1042 words to whooping 5364 words after my re-write. I'm almost afraid to look back at the early chapters of this collection xD_

 _Anyway, enjoy this fun, more action packed one-shot._

* * *

She panted and wiped the sweat and grime from her brow. Blossom knew that she was in a dangerous situation. The fight with the Rowdyruff Boys had started out quite casually, with each fighting their usual partner. Nothing big or something that they couldn't handle it. It was when the leader of the ruffs, Brick, decided to throw a curve ball at her and switch places with Butch. That's when things started to get difficult.

It had been so sudden as well. One moment she and Brick where fighting and the next he flies high up in the dark looming clouds and she has to face Butch, who got slammed into her from below, she guessed by Buttercup. She hardly had had time to react and gather her bearings before he was on her throwing a flurry of punches, sweeps and kicks.

After that her sister nor Brick, for that matter, had been in their sights anymore.

At some point it had started raining and during her rapid dodging and blocking she vaguely noticed that they weren't above Townsville anymore. She didn't know if it was a calculated move from the ruffs to lead her and her sisters away from the city or just coincidence, but she didn't like the situation anyway.

Blossom dodged another car that was thrown at her. Their fight somewhere along the way had reached the ground and when it did the ruff hadn't wasted time in using it to his advantage. Blossom couldn't deny that this time it did look like the Rowdyruffs where actually trying to kill them. It was different from their usual encounters – more bloodthirsty, more coordinated.

The pink puff slammed her foot on the ground making slabs of concrete turn up around her front, left and right side, successfully creating a shield from the onslaught of flying cars. The green ruff had used that car throwing move on her two times already, so she knew what was coming next. It was something she had discovered early on – Butch liked to repeat his moves a lot if they brought enjoyment for him and apparently car tossing was almost like a sport for him, judging by his laughter and taunts. He was still unpredictable in hand to hand combat, though.

"Don't treat me as an idiot, Red."

He didn't come from the right like he usually had done after this, instead he advanced from above.

Blossom had enough time to turn her head towards the direction of his voice before he struck her in the ribs, successfully winding her. She grit her teeth and rolled away from the high kick he aimed for her face next.

Stupid. That was stupid of her. She should have known better. She had underestimated his intelligence. Last time she makes that mistake.

Ignoring the pain in her ribs she gathered back her wits and stood in a defensive stance. Butch didn't waste any time to follow up with jabs towards her face and chest. She dodged and blocked every one of them. He was fast enough to not leave any openings for her to retaliate. At one point she saw him falter in his advancement and Blossom took that as her chance to kick him in his stomach to gain some distance between them.

Panting she flew a few blocks down the street. She could feel sweat trail down her back among the droplets of rain, and taste blood on her tongue. Butch had cracked some ribs with his surprise attack and punctured a lung. The wound was slowly healing, but she knew that it would take a few hours for Chemical X to fix it completely.

While she had been even with Brick with their prowess she had been on the defensive most of the time with Butch. The green ruff attacked her with such vigor and accuracy that she could hardly keep up. Protecting the city from damage they currently had stumbled into was the last thing on her mind. If she didn't come up with a plan on how to outsmart the ruff she might lose. Lose her life that is. The green ruff fought with an intent to kill. Her only compensation for now was that the city had evacuated. She supposed that it was one of the neighboring cities to Townsville that got occasional monster attacks as well, thus had installed the same system they had in Townsville.

Casting a short glance to her surroundings she deduced that the city looked spooky like this. The streets were a fray of transport vehicles and trash, the rain was raining cats and dogs by now and in the distance, with her super hearing, she could hear the frantic shouts of people making their way out of the city and possibly her and Butch.

Her brief break got cut short when the ruff came for her again, this time green energy crackling in his hand and a wicked smirk on his face.

Her eyes widened. There's no way she can take that head on. She could counterattack with a power blast of her own, but with her luck his would be stronger and it all would only result in her injuring herself further.

Not having any other options Blossom dodged his strike at the last moment and used the dust cloud he created by slamming into the building behind her to zip into one of the buildings. She used a hole high up in the wall to enter. The building had already sustained some damage from a fight. Whoever had landed here had made quite a mess.

Gasping she realized that her and Butch might not be the only ones fighting here. Either Bubbles or Buttercup were here as well, fighting their opponents. So it really was a coordinated attack by Brick. Scowling she had to admit that it was a good plan. By leading them out of their hometown they lost the advantage of knowing where was what and by switching opponents – throwing them out of routine, thus catching them off guard.

Drawing her mouth in a flat line Blossom made her way deeper into the building. It was a mess. Glass from windows was everywhere, the office equipment was strewn around, broken. Paper trash littered the ground. Maybe she can use the mess to hide and calculate a plan.

Cradling her right arm she floated past doors and down some stairs. Her arm was bleeding, bruised all over, it had taken the burnt of the ruffs attacks. Chemical X couldn't heal her arm and chest fast enough. At this point she was severely at a disadvantage to continue fighting the ruff. She didn't favor hiding, but she knew when she was outmatched and had to find a different strategy.

"Playing hide and seek, eh?" Butch's loud, boisterous voice echoed across the halls. He had caught on fast on her thought process. "That's something new. I'm game." She heard him rustle around the floor above her and then carelessly blast anything he deemed worthy to destroy.

Blossom took that as her cue to keep moving. The pink puff saw her sister in a new found light, her respect for Buttercup doubling. How she had managed to fight this powerhouse of a human all these years and win only with a few bruises was a mystery to her. Then again it seemed like today they were fighting with different intentions than usual. Some while ago the boys had stopped trying to kill them, thus the battles between them had turned into a casual thursday to stop the ruckus the boys liked to inflict on the city, similar to Gang Green Gang or Fuzzy. She'll even admit that they were starting to grate on her nerves with their antics. But today it was different. Something had changed and they were back at it again.

"Where are you Red?" Blossom had to reign in her anger at his mocking tone. Asshole. He knew that he was better than her and he sure as hell wasn't afraid to rub it in. She heard him smash his way through a floor and create a new wave of dust that even reached her. He was close.

She made her way down the stairs on the opposite side of the building while pondering over the numerous battle plans she usually used against Brick. She let out an uncharacteristic curse when she realized that none of them would fit to take down the green Rowdyruff. Whereas Brick was similar to her and usually planned out his advancements Butch wasn't, he was impulsive and chaotic with stamina for days it seemed.

Somewhere along the way she noticed that her hands were shaking. She was afraid, she realized. She had been pushing her emotions down all this time, preferring to strategize battle plans rather than focusing on her emotional state, but apparently she couldn't control her body language. This didn't happen to her often, but at the moment she had so many disadvantages that she truly started to fear for her own well being, her sisters' and the city's they were in. If she lost right now her sisters would be devastated, not to mention at a clear detriment in numbers. She had to win, not only for herself, but for her sisters as well.

She grit her teeth in frustration. She just didn't have a clue how to do it. She was in an unknown city, injured, hiding and facing an opponent she was outmatched against. "How can I do this…?" Her voice seemed to echo through the tall stairwell.

"Aha!"

Blossom froze in her spot. She hadn't noticed sooner, but for the past three minutes or so Butch had been quiet, listening for her and he had just heard her talk. Crap. No doubt he was coming towards her right now.

She felt panic bubble in her chest. She has to get away from the stairwell. Wincing she ripped open the first door she saw and floated into the hallway that was on the other side. Knowing that she's pressed for time she didn't go far before she chose a random door to open and entered that room. Lucky for her the office room was untouched apart from the slight mess its occupant had made when running out.

Setting herself down in the corner beside a file cabinet she waited with a baited breath what would happen next. Her heart was thrumming so loudly that it was all she could hear for the next five minutes. Obviously Butch was using a similar tactic to her of floating though the hallways, not making a sound. It was a logical course of action, still she cursed it 'cause it gave no indication of where he was.

A sudden crash from the stairwell made her flinch. He was here and now that he was he didn't bother being quiet at all by slamming open doors or crushing under his feet whatever was strewn about in the hallway. She hated to admit it, but Butch was a great tracker. This building had at least twenty stories and considering that she had been in the stairwell where sound ricochets he had pinpointed the floor she was on with frightening precision or he just had gotten insanely lucky.

Hearing him close in on her position Blossom covered her mouth to silence her loud panting. She hated herself at that moment for being reduced to a quivering mess by a mere Rowdyruff. When had she fallen so low? Does she not value her pride, her reputation, the safety of this city? She was thrown in an out of routine situation. So what? Is she really that weak that she can't adapt, can't change her battle tactics to match the green ruff?

The answer was that she could. She could do it. She just has to stop doubting herself, stop shaking, gather her courage and face him. Face him and beat him, but with different tactics. She isn't the leader of Powerpuff Girls for no reason. Butch might be strong and have extended knowledge in fighting skills, but what he didn't have is the strategies and intelligence she had.

A loud bang shook the building. She didn't know what he had done, but it had sounded a lot like he had used a ray blast. She could only guess that he had done so to clear more ground and find her faster, patience wearing thin.

"Aw, c'mon, Blossom. Don't tell me that you're so pathetic that all you can do is block and hide. I bet that even Bubbles could put up a better fight." Just a few feet from her she heard his mock filled voice again. He was baiting her, probably like he occasionally did to Buttercup. Though luck for him 'cause she wasn't like her sister and won't charge him guns blazing only because he insulted her pride. She knew better even if it did irk on her nerves.

While listening to his ascending footsteps and listening to the lewd curses he was sprouting at his failure to get her to show herself. She quickly scanned the room for any ideas until she noticed a fire extinguisher strapped to the wall right where she was sitting. Her eyes lit up.

A surprise attack. How could she not think of this sooner? The one advantage she has over him right now is the element of surprise. He has only an inkling of idea where she is while she knows exactly where he is. She knew well enough that fire extinguishers had some weight behind them and were made of sturdy metal. Perfect for trying to knock him out. At this point it was all she could do – knock him out and detain him. So far it hadn't fared so well for her the old fashion way of beating them until they retreat. On the bright side if this works out she'll finally manage to catch a Rowdyruff and properly jail him. The Professor will be ecstatic to get to test his new Antidote X toys.

Ripping the extinguisher from its spot Blossom quickly calculated her course of action. She blasted out the window with her pink energy shot to get his attention while she flew up to the ceiling panels, moved one and hid in there. She doubted the ruff would be attentive enough to look up.

She heard him chuckle and make the last few steps to her hiding spot. He didn't bother doing anything fancy this time instead he simply smashed the door open with his foot with a large, crooked smile on his face. He was practically twitching from excitement at finally having her caught.

Butch didn't get a chance to take a step further or open his big mouth for that matter before Blossom descended on him. She paid mind to put in enough force in and hit him in the back of his head with the large extinguisher. When she heard a loud crack coming from the extinguisher and his head she felt almost sadistically satisfied.

The green ruff fell face first on the ground unconscious.

"You're lucky that this won't kill you, jerk." She felt inclined to say some biting words to his body for causing her so much grief.

She discarded the extinguisher and produced a specially made Antidote X zip tie from her pocket to immobilize the ruff. When the tie was around his hands only then she let herself relax and drop on the floor. She was exhausted, battered and annoyed. She had won this match and with a prize to boot. She could only hope that her sisters were faring better than her and had managed to already take care of their opponents.

Leaning against the wall she finally took in her surroundings properly. From her window view she could deduce that she had been indeed right by this being a neighboring city to Townsville – Megaville, in fact, and that it had sustained some property damage.

She groaned and examined her bruised hands more closely. Thankfully her injuries were already healing. She couldn't do much about her torn clothes though. Her jeans were beyond salvaging and so was her favorite white blouse, which, by this point, was colored gray with splotches of brown. Her hair was a whole another mess she didn't want to think about. At least her red bow was sturdy enough to keep her hair in her signature hairstyle.

Running a hand through her wet bangs she cast a glance towards the unconscious ruff. She had to wince slightly at the uncomfortable position he was laying in, with his nose buried in the floor and the blood that was seeping into his sleeveless hoodie. At least his breathing seemed normal.

Wanting to inspect his state of injury she flipped him on his back, which possibly was a more uncomfortable position for him with his hands being tied behind his back, but she couldn't find it in herself to care. Unsurprisingly he was doing better than she was. He seemed to have no visible injury on him apart from the head wound she inflicted and battered knuckles. His clothes had seen a better day, though. She had to scowl when she realized that he had the same preference of all black clothing and metal studs like her sister – black jeans, black boots, black hoodie, heck even his leather arm band was black and studded. Though just like her his hair was a mess.

Sighing Blossom closed her eyes and enjoyed the calm sounds of the blowing wind and rain for a moment. She should probably get moving and fly back to Townsville, but she was so tired that it was the last thing she wanted to do, especially when she'll have to carry the ruff back. She wasn't worried so much about his weight as she was about his size. He was the tallest of his brothers no doubt, close to 6'3 feet and had a considerable amount of bulk on him. It didn't matter how she did it, it was bound to be awkward for both of them.

When she heard rustling come from Butch she opened her eyes again. He moaned and rolled on his side, probably from feeling the loss of circulation in his hands, before he groggily sat up. She gave him a moment to gather his bearings. When his eyes finally reached her he didn't shout or attack her like she expected him to instead he looked at her in confusion.

She couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. "I won." After all his mocking of her, underestimating of her skills it felt deeply satisfying to rub this in and see the clear surprise on his face. She noticed fairly quickly that he had tried to break the tie and had failed. She fully expected for him to rage and cuss her out, but he once again surprised her with his course of action.

He laughed and crossed his legs to face her, mirth sparkling in his green eyes. "You got me, Red. I would applaud to you if I could."

Blossom scowled. Was he mocking her again? Jesus, she never knew with him.

"So, what now? You got me all tied up with this fancy rope, what's next? You throw me in jail?" He cackled at his own joke. "You're delusional if you think that this can hold me."

Arrogant too. What a nice package. She decided to answer his questions before he annoyed her further. "We wait until the rain stops and then I'll take you to the Professor, where you'll get to enjoy the full experience of jail time for superpowered beings."

Butch tsked and cursed someone under his breath, that someone sounded awfully a lot like Brick. No doubt Brick had put up his brothers to this – switch partners and take them out, and Butch just got a front seat experience of how well that plan worked out. It was an another victory for her. Brick was a bragging asshat and it always brought a satisfied smile on her face to see his plans fail.

The green ruff stayed quiet after that, opting to glower at the glass coated floor near her dirty sneakers. Ah, so the message finally sunk it. She rather enjoyed the quiet from him and the soothing rainfall pattering against the wall. Only when he started to fidget and blow air at something inconsistently was when she turned her attention back to the ruff. She almost giggled at the sight of him trying to blow his wet bangs out of his eye while wincing when the tips of his hair irritated his eye every time he blinked. When she did let a giggle escape he ceased his blowing.

"A little help would be nice." Blossom raised her eyebrow at his pout. "I would gladly do it myself, but seeing as how my hands aren't available to me..." he vaguely shrugged his shoulders as if to indicate how helpless he was at that moment.

Taking pity on him she crawled closer. If he was anything like Buttercup, which he had proved to be true at some points, he was going to shamelessly whine about his hair and she rather enjoyed the calm and seeing his mouth shut. Drawing her lips in a flat line she tried to ignore their proximity and the heat he emitted. With her right hand she gently pushed aside the offending strands of hair from his left eye. Further ignoring his eyes on her she returned to her spot, glad that that was over. Even with his powers restrained she didn't trust him enough to not pull something on her. When she did look up he was scowling at her in a dissatisfied manner.

"What?"

He fidgeted again in his spot, bringing himself closer to her. "C'mon, Blossom, I don't want to look like a limp pansy, run your hand through it, make it spike up."

Narrowing her eyes she had to wonder if the double entendre was intentional or not, but judging by his smug smirk it very well was. This time she hesitated, eyeing him up and down trying to find anything suspicious.

"Please? It's annoying."

Surprised by his politeness she blinked, stunned. Okay, maybe him and her sister weren't so similar after all. She usually had to threaten bodily harm to Buttercup for her have some decent etiquette and say please and thank you. Sighing she decided to just forget about it and humor him, there's no harm in it. By this point it didn't look like he was going to try anything else towards her.

By the time she had made her decision Butch had already inched himself close enough to her for him to be an arms length away. Sighing she closed the distance between them. "Alright." Once again she had to avoid his piercing stare. She didn't want to admit it, but the ruff made her feel uncomfortable. She hardly ever made contact with him, her battles usually leading her up against Brick. She didn't know what reactions to expect from the green ruff. Honestly, she doubted if she has ever even had a casual conversation with any of them. She swallowed thickly and ran one hand through his damp strands. She felt awkward as hell and had to fight down a blush. Why was she doing this again? To her enemy no less.

Butch leaned into her side, almost falling into her lap. "Put more effort into it, Red," he muttered, grinning at her discomfort.

Blossom had half a mind to slap him and knock him out again. He should be grateful that she even let him get what he wants in the first place. Why does he have to be demanding about it as well? She grit her teeth instead and fought down the nerves that were strung high from his proximity. This time she ran both of her hands through his hair, messing it up at the end a bit just to spite him.

Pushing him away she conceded that his undercut now did look better than before, when it had been matted to his head by the rain even if she did make it look like a bed head. "There, done. No more whining."

Content with her work he grinned. "Thanks."

Gah, what is it with him and politeness? She hid her red face in her soaked hair and muttered back a short 'you're welcome'. It's the least thing she had expected from a Rowdyruff, Butch especially. Either he didn't understand the concept of being captured or he was pretending to be captured to wait until his brothers came and got him. Oh, how she hoped that her sisters had managed to get out of this safely. She had been lucky in the end. It kind of unsettled her that Butch was acting so friendly to her while just a few moments ago he had been trying to end her life. He either had his priorities wrong or was simply crazy. She was inclined to go with the latter.

"Why are you so nice?" She found herself asking a few minutes later.

Butch himself had been lost in thought during the moment they were quiet. Hearing her question he met her eyes again. He seemed to understand what she was asking right away. "Hmm? Well, I don't enjoy having a stick up my bum all the time and being pissy about it." Blossom had an odd feeling like she knew who he was talking about instantly. "It's exhausting. I rather spend my time having fun. By the way, Blossom, you're a lot of fun. Buttercup would have never done the things you did." He grinned and sent a wink her way.

Blossom groaned and hid her face in her hands. It was so weird hearing him finally say her name and not that dumb nickname. In fact this whole conversation was throwing her for a loop. She kept mistaking him for Brick and kept expecting insults thrown her way and a lot of attitude. While Butch still gave her attitude it wasn't the same as Brick, who in general, as Butch had stated, could be pissy and rude for the sake of being rude, instead he gave off this feeling of aloofness and ease that she found herself being jealous of.

The ruff chuckled. "I kind of don't regret agreeing to Brick's plan now."

Her attention caught Blossom raised her head. Her face was still slightly dusted with pink, but it wasn't as visible as it had been before. That was the confirmation she needed to hear to know that her theory had been right. "And what might have been that plan?"

He eyed her impishly as if asking if she really wanted to hear this. "I'm not really supposed to say..." he trailed off and had to bite back a laugh when the puff leaned closer, waiting for him to continue. "But it's not like I care. Him had been pestering us for the past month to get serious when fighting you girls. Yesterday he got really angry and threatened to disintegrate us if we didn't get rid of you soon, so Brick quickly on the spot made the plan for us to switch opponents and lead you away from the city for an advantage."

"Aha! I was right," Blossom cut him off with her exclamation, the last part of her theory confirmed.

Butch shook his head incredulously, snickering at her antics. "You wouldn't believe the fuss Boomer put up when he heard that he'll have to fight Buttercup. I swear, it looked like he was about to piss his pants from the fear of her."

The puff laughed, understanding very well Boomer's plight. "She can be quite scary when she's irate."

Butch snorted in response. "More like a bitch on two legs. I know that I can be unreasonable when angry, but she takes it to a whole other level. I get the feeling my presence alone sets her into bitch mode."

Blossom hummed, thinking over what he said. She knew that she probably should feel offended that he just called her sister a bitch, but she couldn't find it in herself to disagree. Frankly Buttercup sometimes was mean and straight to the point. She knew that her sister meant well and usually was a pretty laid back person, but when angered she turned into a harpy with claws. Butch was kind of right on the fact that it did happen quite often when she was around him. She supposed that it was similar to her and Brick – she got snarky and rude around him frequently as well.

The easy conversation died after that. Both of them slunk into silence, the roaring of rain and wind filling the quiet. Blossom also dully noted that it had gotten darker outside as well, meaning that the sun was setting and it was late. What shocked her the most was that she just had a casual conversation with one of her enemies and she actually enjoyed it. Then again the situation they were in wasn't really ordinary either.

"Sooo...you aren't thinking by any chance to, ah, I don't know, let me go?"

Blossom deadpanned at his playful tone. "What do you think?"

He hummed. "At least I tried."

After that the silence extended and somewhere along the way she drifted off, her fatigue finally getting to her.

When she came to it was pitch dark outside and the rain had stopped. It was only because of her night vision that she was able to see her surroundings clearly. She scanned the room quickly and saw that nothing had changed for the duration of her nap, except she couldn't find Butch. Panicking she shot up from her spot.

How stupid could she be? Of course he was going to run once she fell asleep. Stupid, stupid. She supposed that without his powers he couldn't have gotten far, but it was the fact alone that she had been sloppy enough and let him escape. She just had a chance of a lifetime and she let it pass. Ugh!

Amid her self punishing she noticed something green glow from the outside. Curiously moving closer her eyes widened when she realized that it was Butch floating near the busted out window, his eyes being the glowing green. He tossed the ripped zip tie to her and she barely caught it before it fell on the ground.

"It's been fun, fighting and talking to you, Red, but I gotta go before Him finds me and rips me a new one." Stunned she just could watch him. He was sporting a grim smirk this time around, she also noticed that he had fixed up his hair. "By the way, tell your father to keep working on those Antidote X toys, they're a bit faulty." He chuckled and Blossom realized that he could have easily escaped any time he had wanted. "I'll be seeing you around, Blossom." With a last mock salute he took to the skies, leaving a dark green streak behind him.

Bewildered Blossom followed the streak of light with her eyes. When she couldn't see it anymore she turned her gaze towards the broken zip tie. She supposed that some of Professors inventions could still be faulty. She just couldn't believe that the ruff had had the chance to escape as soon as he had woken up, but hadn't done so. Instead he had played the role of her captive. Why, though? What did he gain by staying with her for two hours? She isn't going to believe that it was because of her company or some stupid thing like that.

Gritting her teeth she crushed the faulty zip tie in her hand. There was more to it, she knew it. If it was a plan Brick had cooked up or Him she didn't know, but she is going to find out, otherwise it's going to bug her for weeks. For now she'll look for her sisters and then decide on a course of action to take.

* * *

 _Honestly, I'm really surprised how easy this was to write. I'm usually struggling so much with dialogue, but with this having more action that talking made it so easy on me that I finished it in no time. And here I thought that I would be struggling like crazy with fighting scenes._

 _I guess that I really should stop saying which pair is going to be next lol gotta keep it as a mystery. Though I'll admit that I already have some fun ideas in mind for Blossom/Boomer, Greens, Buttercup/Boomer and Brick/Buttercup. If you have a preference for any of those pairs shoot me a review and I just might make it my next one-shot, but no promises this time.  
_


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